OVA 2: The Flame of Friendship
"REKKA SHIN'EN!!!" A flame wrapped around the crystal ball, and the memory stone was revealed. Taka picked it up and recieved all of his memories of Nuriko. "Nuriko...I remember what you said now...about how the tough times make us stronger, and how we'll be able to laugh them off someday...It's true, isn't it Nuriko?" The purple haired seishi glared at him. "Yeah, if you live through it!" Hotohori and Chiriko were standing there also, looking just as annoyed. "Must you always point out that you're still alive and we're not?!" "Would you like to join our little club, Tamahome?" Chichiri smiled. "We're doing really well! Only three more stones to go!" Miaka nodded happily. Jade groaned. "Can we go to bed NOW?! I'm so tired!" Rokou, now that the drama was over, was fawning all over the firey haired girl. "Of course, Jade-san! I'll have the finest room prepared for you right away! Unless, of course, you wish to stay in mine..." he added hopefully. This earned him evil looks. "Watch it, smartass..." Tasuki growled. Jade had turned four different shades of red in the past minute, and right now she was a furious scarlet. "Yo, perv, I'm engaged, so get your freakin' mind out of the gutter!!!" Nuriko stepped in and made peace between the two redheads and his embarassed brother. "I-I'll get rooms for all of you..." he said timidly. The purple haired seishi cheered. "Yay! Sleepover!!!" Miaka laughed. "But this is your house!" Jade went into the nearest room. "Don't care if it's not ready, I'm sleeping in here!" she growled to the group and slammed the door. Tasuki sighed. "Not the most enjoyable thing t' sleep with..." Hotohori grinned. "Tasuki, let me tell you everything about my remarkable son Boushin!" The bandit's eyes widened in horror. "Uh, gotta sleep and rest up this wound, otherwise I'd love to!" he said, backing up towards the door. Nuriko grinned slyly. "Yeah, like they're will be any sleeping in that room tonight...I'm sure Jade will give you a nice 'treatment', if you know what I mean..." The bandit turned a bright crimson, and from inside the room came a surprised cry. "NANI?!" They all laughed as he darted into the room, very flustered. They dispersed and went to their designated rooms, smiling at the two bandits' relationship.
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Whent the redheads came out to to the balcony the next morning, everyone noticed that they were both very energetic and happy, and that Tasuki's shoulder had fully healed. They all found this odd, except Nuriko. "Heh. You know what they say, sex is the ultimate healer..." he snickered as the couple sat down. They flushed so deeply, it was hard to tell their hair apart from their faces. "Well, um...nothing happened, okay?! We just got a good night's sleep, that's all!" Jade mumbled, but they could tell she was lying. "You guys were sleeping so deeply that you didn't feel that energy wave coming from Miaka and Tamahome's room? Aparently, they battled Tenkou last night, no da. That's pretty bad if you didn't know about that, no da..." Chichiri told them. The Celeste Warrior gasped. "What did Tenkou do?!" Taka looked up at her. "He transported us to his lair, and took all of the memory jewels..." he trailed off, looking pained. Tasuki's eyes lit up. "You shoulda interr-I mean, woke us to help ya! I would've kicked Tenkou's ass once and for all!" Chiriko sighed. "Well, they had to have been pretty busy all night to have him this hyper..." Nuriko rolled his eyes. "He's an idiot." Jade flushed. "Don't listen to him. He's a load of shit with half of what he says. Yes, I'll admit we did have sex last night, but that doesn't mean that you should make such a big deal about it...I mean, it's not like it's anything special. I was mostly doing it to help him heal, but then I guess we got pretty involved, because we didn't even know about Tenkou or anything..." she said, flushing even deeper. Nuriko patted her shoulder. "Jade-chan, don't worry about it. We were just teasing you because, well...Chichiri's an old stiff, you know that, and the rest of us are dead, so it's not like we could ever do anything. I'm just happy that you two can be that much in love after all we've been through." Meanwhile, Tasuki was giving Taka a hard time. "Tama, c'mon! There's nothin' to worry about, buddy! There's still three more jewels floatin' around out there, you didn't need those old ones anyway!" Nuriko shot him a look. "I don't think that's what he wants to hear..." the seishi muttered. Taka laughed it off and walked away, saying that he was fine. Yet, somehow, he managed to hit a low tree branch, fall into the pond, and run into a wall, all within 30 seconds. The bandit watched, torn between pitying him and laughing his head off. "Ya almost feel bad, watchin' a guy that bad..." Nuriko popped up, holding a sign. "Tasuki dear, what does this say?" He scanned it and looked at him as if he was psycho. "Delicacy." "Good, now try and remember what it means!!!" the older seishi snarled and punched him into the house. Jade rushed over to her koi as he hit the wall. "Tasuki, are you okay?!" Chichiri and Hotohori were talking quietly about Taka and Miaka. Tasuki heard them and sighed. "Poor Miaka...it must be awful, to be in her position...I wish I could help her somehow..." he said quietly. Jade hugged him comfortingly. "Oh, you big softy...don't worry, we'll think of a way to cheer them up. After all, who are the biggest smartasses here?" she said, smiling, but he still seemed a little sad. "C'mon, I'm going out to the varanda outside our room. Will you come with me?" He nodded and followed her to the sunny room.
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The redheaded couple were curled up on a futon on the screened varanda. (Screened as in Chinese screens, not modern screens) Jade was deeply sleeping, her head nestled in Tasuki's chest. He had one arm around her waist, and the other was lazily playing with her auburn tresses. He closed his eyes and entwined his fingers with hers, feeling the emerald ring she never took off. Smiling, he remembered the night he had proposed to her and she had graciously accepted. He frowned as he realized all she had to put up with, and yet she still loved him. 'I'll make it up to you, Jade...' he thought to himself. She shifted slightly and nuzzled his shoulder, purring happily. He kissed her forehead and rested his head next to hers. His eyes slid closed, and he joined his fiance in slumber.
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He woke later to find it midafternoon, and the girl on his arms was still dead to the world. Deciding to take a walk, he gently untangled himself and scribbled out a quick note to tell her where he was. He bent and kissed her gently. She was still in the same position, clutching the cover where he had just been. He smiled and walked outside.
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Jade woke at sunset, her favorite time of the day. She wasn't quite sure why, but she figured it was because the sky looked like it was on fire, and was the same color of Tasuki's hair. She sighed happily and looked around for the bandit in question. When she couldn't find him, she noticed the note beside her. It said: Jade, I went for a walk. Be back soon. Tasuki. She smiled and decided to change for dinner that evening. Going over to the closet in their room, she pulled out a t-shirt and jean shorts. The t-shirt was black and said "Hi, I'm an ARIES!" in big, flame colored letters, and the description of the sign on the back. (Her b-day is April 4th, the same as mine! Technically, she's almost a year younger than Tasuki, because his birthday is on April 18th, and he was 17 when they met, while she was only 16.) She put it on, humming happily and putting her hair up into a high ponytail. Then, she went over the mirror to check that everything looked okay when she noticed something that made her heart freeze over in horror. "Oh my god..." she whispered as she stared at her reflection. The wolf madallion she wore around her neck, which always glowed with Tasuki's chi, even when he wasn't with her, was just a plain amulet now. Not even a glimmer came from the cool circle of jade. Knowing that something was wrong, she ran to find Nuriko.
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Meanwhile, Tasuki had taken Miaka up to a room he had rented. His soft amber eyes glowed with a violet light after he had been hit by that wave of water, but Miaka didn't know that. The drunk Priestess slumped against the bandit, flustered. "Tasuki, I must be drunk..." she giggled. He put his arms around her, and even though she struggled against his embrace, he held her tightly. "W-Where are the others? Is Jade coming up soon with Taka and Chichiri? She must be worried about you..." she said lightly, trying hard not to show her growing fear. Tasuki's eyes narrowed. "Never speak that bitch's name in my presence ever again! None of them are here, nor will they be coming. It's just the two of us." Miaka's eyes widened in horror. She tried to get up. "Tasuki, don't joke like that! You know that it's not funny anymore...I'll go look for them..." Tasuki grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I told you no one was here!" he growled before pinning her to the bed. She protested, but he got on top of her and straddled her hips. "Tasuki, what's wrong with you?! What are you doing?!" she cried. He smirked. "Yeah, somethin's wrong with me. I've always hated every woman I met...until I met you"
"But you and Jade are engaged! You love her, don't you?!"
"I told you to never say that bitch's name! I never loved her, I just wanted someone to get in th' sack, I never had any feelings for that little whore. It's you that I love..." Miaka tried to free herself, but he kissed her possesively. He began to open up her shirt as she screamed for Taka.
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"NURIKO!!!" Jade yelled as she ran out onto the porch. The purple haired seishi got up immediately. "Jade, what's wrong?!" She fell to her knees, clutching her chest. The other seishi hurried over. "Jade!!! Jade, what's wrong?!" Chiriko cried. She looked up at them, and there was deep pain in her eyes. "Something's wrong with Tasuki...he went for a walk hours ago and isn't back yet! And when I was in my room, I saw that the wolf madallion, which always glows with his chi, even when he isn't around, it isn't even glimmering faintly! Just now, my heart felt like it was being shredded...we need to find him!!!" Hotohori helped her up, and he gasped. "Miaka and Taka haven't been back yet either! And Chichiri said earlier that he smelled something familiar...something ominous..." She pulled away from the Emporer and grabbed her bandit coat. "We have to find them, c'mon!!!" She transformed as a tiger and raced off, praying that she could find them in time.
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Tasuki was still working on raping Miaka, and she was trying despretely to get away from the bandit. She didn't want to be raped, of course, but if he was under some kind of spell, she didn't want him to do something he would regret later. "Don' worry...that bastard won't hurt ya anymore...I'll take care of ya..." he muttered, stroking her hair. Then, he stopped and sat up. "You're crying..." Sure enough, tears were coursing down the Priestess's face, and the bandit had no idea what to do. His eyes flashed to their gentle amber as he remembered how deeply hurt he was the last time Jade cried, but he pushed it back into his mind and his eyes returned to violet. "Why are you crying? Stop thinking about him, I'm trying to help you forget!!! Stop crying!" He heard the door open. "Get out." he snarled, and his eyes widened when he saw Taka, clutching his arm.
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Jade stumbled as she ran through a brush full of thorns, but she didn't stop. The other seishi weren't with her; Chichiri said that he would transport to the place with the others once she found them. In the distance, she saw an inn. She smiled sadly when she remembered the story of how four years ago, the Reikaku bandits pilaged it. Realizing that she had a clue, she ran faster.
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Taka began the ascent of the staircase again. Tasuki had thrown him down it twice, but the young man still managed to get to the top where the bandit and Miaka were standing. He told Tasuki how much Miaka ment to him and how he was sorry that he wasn't even a full person yet, but that he would always try to protect her. "I don't know what changed you, but you're not like this. Sure, you can be an ass sometimes, but you're a true gentleman when it comes to women. You say you never liked them, but I can tell, you're just afraid of them. Then, you meet one that installs a new feeling: love. Do you know how much she loves you, Tasuki? I don't think you'll ever truely understand, just like I'll never be able to understand how much Miaka loves me. But, even though you say I am the evil one here, you are the one who is hurting Miaka. Hell, if Jade ever found out, it would kill her. Just rip her to shreds. Are you willing to put her through living hell just because you can't control what's happening to you? I love Miaka, and I try my damn hardest to make her happy. You make Jade happy. Damnit, why can't you see this?!" Tasuki looked at Miaka, still a little angry. "Then why is she always cryin' if you supposedly make her happy?!" She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Tasuki, the reason I cry is because I love Taka so much...it's the way girls are put together, you see. Every girl cries for the man they love, because they know that he's too proud to ask for help, but that you hope he'll make it through. We even cry for them when we're happy. I know it's silly, but that's the way we are. I thought you knew that..." He stepped away from her, his eyes starting to return to amber. He shook his head angrily. "I won't! I won't do this to my friends!!! Most of all..." he trailed off, looking pained. "I won' do this to her because I love her more than life itself, damnit!" He pulled out his tessan and held it above his head. Taka pulled Miaka close to him, knowing what the bandit planned on doing. His symbol glowing fiercly, the redhead cried "I WON'T BETRAY MY FRIENDS!!!" before driving the fan into the floor and flames flared up all around him.
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Jade had just told Chichiri to come as she opened the door to the inn, and feeling the heat on her face, she looked up and what she saw caused her heart to stop. Her beloved was kneeling on the floor, in the middle of the flames he was using to kill himself. "TASUKI!!!!" she screamed and tried to lunge at the stairs, but two sets of arms held her back, Nuriko and Chichiri. "No, no da!!! You can't go up there, you'll be incinerated by the flames!" She struggled fiercly, symbols flaring. "LET ME GO, I DON'T CARE!!! TASUKI!!!" The bandit heard her, and his heart sank. 'Damn...why did it have to be like this?! I didn't want her to see, it must be killing her inside...but I don't deserve her, after what I almost did...' She faught the seishis' grip with all of her strength, not caring if she were to die in the flames. Then, at least she would be with her fiance. The monk smiled. "Looks like he made it after all...Jade, look!!!" The Celeste Warrior's head flew up, and she saw a figure walking out of the flames, surrounded by a barrier. It was Mitsukake, holding a burnt, but very much alive, Tasuki in his arms. The bandit realized that he was no longer burning, and that he was safe. "W-Why am I still alive?" he asked hoarsely. The healer chuckled softly. "A tough guy like you, die like that? I thought you were above all that. Besides, I think there's someone you need to live for...as well as her live for you..." Tasuki opened his eyes and saw Jade at the doorway, fighting off Chichiri and Nuriko. She looked up and saw him, causing her to freeze immediately. Mitsukake helped the bandit stand upright, and it took all of the redhead's balance not to fall over when Jade flew up the stairs and hugged him fiercly. "Don't EVER do that again, you baka!!! I was worried to death about you! And then you go and try to kill yourself?!" she cried, hitting as much of him as she could. Tasuki took it all, knowing that he deserved it. He felt the girl slump against his chest, and he felt liquid hit his bare skin. He lifted her face up and saw that she was crying. "Jade...I'm sorry, but I don' even deserve to be touched by you, because of what I almost did..." he said sadly, but she continued hugging him. "I don't care if you just mass murdered, I love you more than anything, and seeing you try to kill yourself nearly killed me as well...I'm sorry for being such a bitch lately, I don't know why, but I've had a lot of stress, and this is the only way I can handle it, and I'm sorry-!!!" She stopped as he brushed away her tears and gave her a trademark fanged smile. "I love you too..." He bent and kissed her passionately. Miaka smiled. She was glad that they had overlooked what had just happened and were able to love each other again.
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Tasuki was grovelling on the floor in front of Miaka. "Miaka, I'm so sorry about what I did! Can you forgive me?" The Priestess rolled her eyes. "Yes, I told you I did! Now stop saying it already! I appriciate the gesture, but Jade is the one you need to apologize to, not me!" The bandit looked up at Jade, who was standing nearby. She smiled. "I understand...it wasn't his fault that he fell under that spell...Like I said before, I still love him." Chichiri seemed worried. "He said he saw water right before he went under the curse..." Hotohori looked puzzled. "Water? What kind of water, Tasuki?" "It was weird...almost as if it had a life of it's own..." Suddenly, Miaka cried out as a wave of water hit her. (Cool music time!) Jade tried to get to her, but the water hit all of them. "That smell! It's Hikou!!!" Chichiri managed to cry as a man with dark blue hair and bat wings appeared in front of them.
Woah, that was long...oh well. Time for part 5!