A Funny Little Thing Called Love

I do not own any of the 'Fushigi Yuugi' characters

Chapter 2: Hospital Break Out

"Yori Kondo," bellowed a distance voice," my little tenshi, wake up."

Mr. Kondo leaned over the hospital bed and playfully slapped his
daughter's rosy face. Yori groaned in frustration, swatting at her
father's tormenting tactic. A pout look spread across his chubby
face, but he could not oblige to his little angel's wishes, quietly he
backed away and sunk into the chair next to the girl.

Yori's pleasant slumber was lost after that, but in no means did she
want to talk to her overprotective father. She could tell he felt
uncomfortable just waiting for something to happen, exactly like the
time mother passed away. Her stomach turned at the thought of the
deceased woman, repeated scenes of her dad pacing the room at
night along with his constant eruption of tears, revealed to his four
year old daughter the Achilles' heel behind such a strong man. With
a sigh, Yori knew she was incapable of pretending much longer and
gave in. The patient's deep green eyes fluttered open, flooding her
with intense fluorescent light from above. The feeling of recently
starched bed sheets pressed against her bare skin, they felt rough and
unwelcoming, nothing like the sheets at home. The oak door that led
into the room had been left open, overflowing with a variety of familiar
sounds. The click of fast paced heels echoed down the hall, the soft
roll of carts reached her ears and far away a nurse called out for a
doctor stat. The atmosphere touched a nerve; images from the past
started a slide show in her mind. First opening with cheerful times then
gracefully ending with a glimpse of a frail human being lying in her death
bed, courageously accepting fate.

The club owner flew out of the over stuffed chair, rushing to his only
daughter's side, waiting on her beckoning whim. Softly, he brushed back
the bangs that fell over her eyes, an aura of happiness surrounding his
large frame as he stood shaking.

"My daughter, I thought I had lost you forever," he balled with arms tightly
wrapped around the only remembrance of his late wife. Yori tried
desperately to comfort him but no attempt seemed to sooth his hysterias.
Over Mr. Kondo's shoulder, on goers stared in to the white room, wondering
what the ruckus was all about. To their dismay it was only an older man
shuttering into a woman's arms, their heads shook in disapproval to the public
display of weakness. Thank goodness visiting hours were over, forcing him to
release her fragile form from his ever tightening grip. If it had been any longer,
she would have passed out again from lack of oxygen.

The night nurse entered an hour after his departure, making sure all was well
while exchanging the charts hanging on her bed. Yori nodded with a smile as
the lady snapped off the burning lights on the ceiling, leaving only a lamp to
illuminate the room. Propped up in bed, the bar tender glanced over at the clock,
the digital numbers read 10:30. She leaned back into the feather pillows for a
second time, knowing that it would be a long night. Not in a hurry to catch any
beauty sleep all senses went on alert, hoping to find something interesting to
preoccupy herself.

It paid off around 11:30 when the faint sound of tapping could be heard down
the vacant corridor. Yori's mind raced with no explanations to the ghostly noise,
the teen's intent of finding something to entertain her had only been a joke and
that was all it should have been. Mentally the girl was kicking herself in the ass,
understanding that if she had fallen fast asleep this noise wouldn't be scaring the
shit out of her. Fear enthralled the soul of the panicked young lady, squeezing
every bit of bravery from its depths. Breath after breath appeared to grow harder
to take in, until finally the tapping discontinued outside the foot of her door. That's
when everything played in slow motion, making the entrance of the unknown person
more climatic.

"Hiya," whispered a miniature Tasuki, tip toeing carefully into the room.

"Ah!" Yori yelled, grabbing a hand full of bed sheets and covering herself
protectively from the young man. A frantic look raced across his face as he
stood there, trying to shush her quiet. Yori's hand flew over her mouth, praying
that the yelp didn't reach the ears of the care takers on duty. Both of them
froze, gazing at the opened doorway prepared to be confronted by blustering
anger. After holding their breath for sometime all seemed clear for conversation.
The mood fell awkward as they just watched one another from across the room,
until a fake cough from Tasuki broke the tense silence.

"Uh, here," Yori gestured to the edge of her bed, which Tasuki hesitated to
but did sit down on. It might have been a trick of the light, but the typically
rugged protector was blushing madly as if insecure about sitting on a girl's bed.
A snicker came from Yori, noticing the discomfort in his stiff form. Her legs
were Indian style underneath the bleached blankets, the sleeping attire she wore
was nothing but boy shorts and a concert t-shirt, not exactly appropriate. With a
meaningful look she stared down Tasuki, gradually grabbing his attention from his
shoelaces to her.

"What!" He asked scurrying farther down the end of the bed.

"Nothing really, I was you know just wondering…what you were doing here
at midnight?" she stammered with a shrug to prove how utterly confused the girl felt.
Tasuki ran his finger through the iron railings of the bed post, making a small clinking
sound with his nails, a pathetic effort to not make eye contact.

"It was kinda funny, ya know, that outta all the people in this damn world, I hadda
stumble on to you. I mean I don't regret it," he said, waving his hands in the air,
desperately trying to back pedal and fix how it had come out," It's just that you were
a surprise. I didn't know there were more of us—"

Yori's head shot up when he referred to us," What do you mean us?" She interrupted,
raising a threatening eyebrow.

"Oh yea," he remembered, scratching the back of his head nervously," Well, here's
the thing. Ya probably can't remember from last night, but I think this is what might
'a' caused you to pass out."

Tasuki rolled up his black sleeve that concealed the symbol on his right arm.
Yori's eyes widened at the sight of the miracle, never before had she seen such
a thing with overwhelming power like that, especially from just a mere human.
Unintentionally, she reached out to touch it, remembering that this was one of
the last things seen before fainting. He could tell from Yori's response that she
did recall the mark; the cocky guardian had to ask himself, how could she not?

"You see Yori, the character on the back of your neck—"

For a second time in a row, the young girl's head shot up with another questioning
glare at Tasuki, "You mean I have one of those crazy things on me?"

"Will ya please let me finish," he retorted, discovering that there were woman in
this world that spoke more than Miaka for the first time," Ta start off, what I mean
by us is the other celestial warriors of Suzaku, You see, because of this character,
my loyalty is dedicated to all the duties the god needs me to do. No matter what
they are I must follow them. There are only seven celestial warriors and of course
our miko, which till this day we still faithfully look after. For you though, I don't
know what ya are, honest."

Yori took her stare off Tasuki; once again she was misplaced in the brutal world,
making her feel even more insignificant than before. The bouncer sensed her misery,
trying hard to think quickly on his feet and make her smile. Tasuki hoisted himself up
from the bed and walked towards Yori, who still sat sulking on the other side. He
bent down so his face was level with hers, catching the girl off guard as he drew them
closer. Tasuki's hand was slipped behind her thin neck, where it grew warm each time
they came nearer. Before long Yori could feel his hot breath against the back of her neck.

"Wait a second," she knew her eyes weren't fooling her, that playful gaze
of his was right in front of her, not behind. Yori reached up and removed
Tasuki's hand from her neck, replacing it with her own. There was definitely
something back there, but what?

"I thought that mighta made yer symbol heat up," he chuckled, giving
himself a round of applause for an Oscar winning performance," I hope
you didn't think anything of it, really, I hate girls."

Yori's heart sunk after he said that, the flame that had been increasing in
her heart was blown out now that she knew there was no chance with him.

"So, your-r-r gay," the love sick teen stuttered, waiting for him to pour that
gay heart of his out from bashing his lover to their fierce romance.

"Whaddya mean 'Am I gay'? Me? GAY?" He jumped back at her reply,
wondering where the hell that statement came from," Glad ta say it, but I am
the farthest thing from gay. I just find girls a torment at times, ya know?" The poor
guy was looking for a reassuring smile, letting him know that no where in her mind
did she think he was gay. And of course, Yori's face lit up with hope, relieved that
she still had some possibility.

"Now about the symbol on your neck," he remarked, turning the subject to the more
important matter at hand," I asked one 'a' my younger senshi about what it means.
We found two big things. One, the character on your neck is 'jikoku' meaning 'time',
and second, the gods love ta use there powers, but when things like this show up,
it's big. So," Tasuki wove his fingers together and stretch out his arms," it looks like I'm
here to break ya outta this place and take ya home with me."

Yori could not believe what she was hearing; it was both a nightmare
and a dream at the same time. Yesterday, a normal confused seventeen
year old, today, a daring young woman, taking a chance at a crazy adventure.
Only one problem, how would her father react to the news of his baby girl gone
missing? There was no doubt in her mind that he would have a cow, maybe a
heart attack at that. She nibbled on her pinky nail, rethinking the danger of leaving
without notice. Yori would never forgive herself if something happened to her dad
because of her doing, no matter how overbearing he acted. Tasuki leaned against
the door frame, waiting for her to join him.

"I guess," she started while slipping out from under the security of the covers," I could
check in with him later, right?"

Even in the dim light she could feel the fixated stare of her companion as she stood
exposed to the chilly air of the hospital at night. Usually in this situation, he would have
been lying on the floor, groaning in pain by now but that was different. Tasuki wasn't
gawking at her like a piece of meat, but instead his stare seemed a little more appreciative
to her beauty. Still, Yori couldn't help blushing at the fact that the only things covering her
were boy shorts and a t-shirt, she was no pageant queen, but he made her feel like one
at least. At the foot of her bed awaited her sneakers, kind of odd how it was like they
knew she would be leaving. Hurriedly, she slipped them onto her feet, turning sharp
on her heel to unite with Tasuki out in the hallway.

"(Humph) Ouch," Yori wined as she lay a mess on the floor. Tasuki had seen it coming;
untied shoelaces and darkness, always a bad mixture when you're in a rush. Her auburn
hair masked the pained look on her face while she lay still from agony. It took but a minute
for her to gain some strength to push herself up from the solid ground, but walking was a
little bit difficult.

"Here," he motioned for her to climb up on his back, which she did gladly. And that's
how their expedition began, not a great start, but both seem pleased with one another's
company. A blanket of mist gathered across the deserted roads as they traveled, flickering
streetlights danced across few tired faces still parading the streets. They looked strange to
those passing them, but they paid no attention to their gaping.

They were too caught up in each other.

--..

Note: ahhhhhh …..jumps up and down….. this chapter took forever, I started it around 3 in the afternoon and now its 2 in the morning.

O gosh it probably suxs, all that effort down the drain. I wanna say thank you to all those that reviewed my little story, you were defenitly

the ones that pushed me to finish this. And so I did. I think I need a little break though, that took alotta energy outta me. Maybe

tomorrow I'll have another chapter, but it will be up soon! Thanks again!

more asap.