If you recognize it, I don't own it.

5. My name

The bamboo fan flicked open and shut, open and shut, open and then it fell from the slender hand. Sen's head lolled to the side as she fell asleep to the windowsill. Her drinking buddy laid sprawled on the floor, he was out cold too. The night had been most productive although neither of the two never left the room. Sen had told him about her world and Koji had explained her some of the basics of the Universe of Four Gods. He had told her about the beast God Suzaku and the great war between Konan and Kutou. But mostly they had just drank. A lot.

--Dreamscape--

It was snowing. Big white flakes made their way slowly towards the couple laying on the grass. The snowflakes slowly covered the grass but somehow managed to avoid the couple.

"I feel so warm." She said to him. "but at the same time I know it will be cold soon."

"It will be cold true, but why not enjoy the warm while you can?" He smiled softly.

"But what if I will freeze later?" She asked cuddling to him.

"There will always be someone just for you, Sarah Elisabeth." He whispered.

--

Sen opened her eyes. She was shocked beyond words. The drunken state she had been earlier was swiped away as she left the room in a hurry.

"My name." She whispered into the cool night air. "Nobody knows my name."

………………………………………….

She ran through the corridors of the bandit fortress until she found the door she was looking for. It looked just like the other doors, but somehow she knew that he was beyond that door. After a moment of hesitation, she pulled her fist back and slammed it into the door. Her knuckles cracked but she ignored the pain. There was something far more important at the hand right now.

"Genro! Wake up!" She yelled at the closed door and hit it again. There was no answer so she kicked the door, noticing a little bit too late that she still didn't have shoes. "Oww ow.." She leaned to the door with her eyes closed. "Shit.Shit.Shit." She muttered.

Suddenly the door opened, a hand shot out and pulled the surprised girl inside the room. It took her eyes few seconds to get used to the dim light inside the room. And when they did she found herself sitting on the floor with a very furious looking redhead looking down at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Ya ask me what? Whatte hell are ya doing?" He asked back, his voice was strained with irritation.

"What do you mean wha… waa.. never mind." She shook her head to get her thoughts clear. "I had a dream." She finally said, averting her eyes.

"…What?" He asked, dumbfound.

"Now you're doing it…" she suppressed a giggle. For a second there, he looked completely lost.

"…" He sat down to his bed and leaned back." You woke me up in the middle of the goddam night just to tell me ya had a dream? Newsflash girl, I have them every damn night." He groaned.

"No no, not that kind of dream idiot. I mean I had a dream about you and me."

"Oh…" He blinked one eye open.

"No wait! That didn't come out right!" She blushed, waiving her hands into the air. "Idiot. I meant I had a totally platonic dream about you, but you said something in the dream that made me go… err.. Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Yer bleeding on my floor." He sighed as he got up and helped her stand up. "So what did I say?"

"Huh?" Was her ever clever answer. He pushed her down to a chair next to his bed.

"Ya said I said something in yer dream that made you go something. So what did I say." He asked while he was rummaging through his stuff to find some kind of bandage to her hand. With a victory sign he pulled out a clean strip of woven and took a hold of her hand.

"You.. oww.. You said my name." She exclaimed, earning a side glance from him.

"Ok… Ya do understand that that made ya officially insane in my books." He snorted. "Not that I ever though ya were very sane.." He tapped the blood off the girls knuckles. She has such tiny hands, he thought, no wonder she can't manage the heavy blades Koji gave her.

"No you don't understand. Nobody knows my name."

"Suuu-re we do, it's Sen."

"Those are my initials. I haven't told anyone my name since my family died."

"Died?"

She went silent. She didn't mean to say it out loud but somehow it slipped. Again she averted her eyes. They shared a comfortable silence as he wrapped the bandage to her hand. He wasn't going to make her talk, even though his natural curiosity was going overdrive. He felt weird about hearing her family had died though. Somehow it felt like he himself had just lost someone. It didn't make sense.

………………………………………….

"So. What's yer name then?" He finally asked as he finished bandaging her hand.

"Sarah Elisabeth." She answered, feeling sleepy. "I should get back now. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"That makes two of us..." He yawned as he closed the door behind them.

"You know Genro, you're really a nice guy." Sen smiled as she entwined her hand with his. "You just cover it up in idiotism."

"Keh, call me Tasuki. Only bandits call me Genro." He answered, but didn't pull his hand away. Something about this girl made him feel funny inside his head. Like trying to remember something that hadn't happened yet. And that was not normal as far as he knew.

"How many names do you have?" She asked and yawned again.

"Few. Why?"

"What's your real name then?"

"You mean my given name?" Now look what you got yerself into, idiot. He inwardly cursed, but still found himself answering. "It's Shun'u, Shun'u Kou."

"Really? It's nothing like your nicknames." She stopped in front of her door.

"I know." He pushed it open and peaked inside. "I see ya had some company." He snickered as he saw Koji laying on the floor, fast asleep. The dark haired bandit looked surprisingly content.

"Huh? Wai! Koji-kun!" Sen eeped blushing deep red. "It's not what you think!"

"Whatever ya say, oneesan." Tasuki smirked. He pushed her inside and closed the door.

………………………………………….

It seemed like a dream when she woke up the next morning. But when she got down to breakfast she realized it had not been one. Tasuki was looking straight at her and smiling widely. Sen groaned, she would so going to hear about last night for the rest of her natural life…

"Morning sunshine!" The redhead greeted her as she sat down to the table. "Had a nice night?"

"Yes, but no thanks to you or anyone else.." She muttered, wondering briefly were the monk was. Had he left again? "Tasuki, where is Chichiri? Did he go to see some friend again?" She asked while piling food to her plate.

"Naah. He's fishing in the pond few miles north from here." The bandit leader answered. Already finishing his breakfast. "I can show ya the way when yer done. But now I'm gonna go get the sleeping beauty up." He snickered as he got up.

"Don't be too cruel to him!" Sen yelled after him as the redhead dashed away in incredible speed.

"Of course I won't!" He yelled back as he vanished behind the corner.

"Wow, he's fast." She whispered, mostly to herself.

………………………………………….

"There is no way in Hell I'm getting on that beast!" Sen screeched as she saw the brown mare Tasuki was bringing out from the stable. It was already saddled up already to go, but Sen was hiding behind laughing Koji. The dark haired bandit found it hilarious that Sen acted exactly the same as Tasuki did when he was just learning how to ride a horse.

"It's just a horse.." Tasuki tried.

"It huge!" She yelled.

"Well, what do ya expect. It's a bloody horse!" Tasukis voice matched hers in volume.

"Don't yell at me!" She pointed a finger to his face.

"You're yelling at me!" He in turn pointed a finger to her face. They both growled and went to retrieve their fans. Lucky for them Koji was there to put a stop to the fight before it even started.

"Will you two stop it. You're acting like a married couple." The dark haired bandit laughed.

"We are NOT!" The fighting couple exclaimed, horrified.

"Fine! I'll ride the damn horse." Sen huffed and turned to look at the animal. It looked calm. But looks can be deceiving, she thought. Sneaky things these horses. Then she noticed a small problem. "Umm.. How do I get on it?"

………………………………………….

They rode in silence. The morning mist was evaporating as it made room for the sunlight. Sen was deep in thought and Tasuki was just enjoying the silence for a change.

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" She finally asked.

"I dunno." He shrugged his shoulders. "I think I'm having some weird family ties thing going on."

"Family ties?"

"Yeah, I grew up with five older sisters."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and I don't wanna talk about it."

"I didn't say anything."

"But ya were thinking about it."

"Oh and what are you, the great mind reader all of a sudden?"

"Why do you two have to fight all the time, no da?" Came a tired sigh behind the couple.

………………………………………….

TBC

Riiight... I have nothing to say right now...