Part II of II

He sat there, staring into the dusk that had swallowed his departing friend. The bandit didn't move as the purple and red streaked sky slowly died, fading into darker purples, blues, and then was blanketed by the veil of night, whose infinite color was only cut by the pure light of the moon and stars. A gentle breeze ruffled his hair as he sat there gazing at the stars. The stars… he remembered the times he and Tasuki had spent on stakeouts, missions, and just for fun, sitting at this same place, drinking sake, laughing and joking, while munching on food the two of them had always stolen.

It was during one of those times that his friend had told him about the celestial warriors. He remembered that distinct whining voice Tasuki took on when he was with him and fooling around, and in the present Kouji grinned.

"Tasuki no baka…" he said softly, causing on of his men to give him a questioning look before returning to his job of watching the road.

At first he hadn't believed him. Until Tasuki had shown him his mark, and told him that one day, maybe the Priestess of Suzaku would call on him to become one of her celestial warriors. At the time it had sounded ridiculous, something they would not have to think about until years later. And now… now it had been almost a year since he had left. As he gazed through an opening in the tree canopy at the sky, a shooting star streaked across the blackness.

"That's m' star." Tasuki had pointed to the night sky as they sat on their little knoll. Kouji had pretended not to see it, and when he finally saw it, he grinned inwardly, saying seriously with a nod;

"Mmm…yer right. It is ur star, I can tell."

Tasuki had looked at him and Kouji could see that his ego was swelling.

"Yea…ya can tell, huh?" the orange haired bandit said smugly, eyes closed.

"M-hmm." Kouji said nodding. "It's the tiniest out of the seven."

Tasuki had twitched and face faulted while Koji had snickered.

"KUSO!" he had roared, leaping onto his friend. Kouji had laughed harder at his indignation, and soon the two were grappling on the ground until they both fell to the side, exhausted and both laughing so much their sides hurt. A content silence had followed and after awhile Kouji broke it.

"So… then yer really a Suzaku warrior?" he said, looking at his friend. "Maybe you'll have these amazing adventures and stories will be written about your great adventures and actions."

Tasuki sat up with a laugh, his face flushed from his excitement, his tussled hair blowing as he gazed up at the stars with a smile.

"I hope so." He had said quietly. And Kouji could see that his friend truly had a destiny laid out for him, as the Boss had said once to him. He had changed so much from the awkward, loud, annoying, passive-aggressive, hot tempered kid he had first met. The moment stretched out, and his friend almost seemed to be surrounded by an aura. Koji smiled gently to himself. And then,

"An yet, with such ah puny star, ya probably won't make it that far, huh? Too bad."

There was a thump as Tasuki pounced on him again, and the two friends began to wrestle again, Tasuki's cries of "Dammit Kouji!" and Kouji's laughter as he protested that he was only speaking the truth, filled the starlit night.

The sound of hooves clattering on the road made the bandit turn as he hunched down against his rock.

/Finally/

Using the quick hand motions that all the bandits knew, he signaled the bandit further up the road who alerted the tree bandits, who passed in on to the bandits on the other side. A hooded figure in a dark cloak on a horse appeared up the road, riding hard. Kouji frowned when he saw this; he had expected the customary merchant band, but none the less, this stranger would probably have money on him. As the rider neared the spot they had agreed on, Kouji gave a low whistle, the signal they had finally agreed on. Closer now…4…3…2…

With a yell, the Mount Reikoku bandits attacked as one, surrounding the rider on all sides. The horse reared in panic and the rider clung desperately to his back so as not to fall. Closer now, Kouji could see the cloak was a dark blue. He fought the emotion of déjà vu and walked towards the stranger as two more of his men grabbed the horses bridle to hold him. Kouji eyed him coldly.

"Get off yer horse." He said loudly.

"And what if I do not?" The voice was light, oddly familiar, yet not. Kouji snorted and a few of his men snickered.

"If you do not get off," he said with a pleasant smile, "Then I will have to kill you, and then drag you off." He said, drawing a dagger with blinding speed. His men laughed and began to tighten the circle until the horse pranced nervously at the lack of space.

None of the Mount Reikoku bandits were truly evil or bad hearted, but they had a reputation to uphold as the toughest bandits, and when they needed to be, they were extremely intimidating and sinister. Kouji's eyes were cold, and he kept a serious face, his even voice adding to his demeanor. The rider didn't respond to all this, and Mount Reikoku leader had to admire his courage. /or his stupidity/ By now, many of their usual victims would be very afraid and begging for their lives.

/Lets turn up the heat/ he thought. He narrowed his eyes coldly.

"You test my patience, sir." He said tightly, moving the dagger dangerously close.

"Get off. The horse."

His men knew that their boss was a great guy…but when he wanted to be intimidating, he could only be matched by Genrou. While he had been young, Genrou had the perfect cruel smile, the one that never reached his eyes as he would say softly that he would rip someone's heart out, while caressing the victim's cheek with the tip of his knife. His evil chuckle and deadly amber gaze that pierced you had chilled many a victims' soul so thoroughly; the rest of the bandits never had to get involved most of the time.

But Kouji was not to be left behind.

"Sir, this is your last warning." He hissed in a soft and deadly voice, causing some of his men to shudder and thank the Kami he wasn't like that normally. All eyes were now on the hooded figure.

"I wouldn't try it, boy." The cloaked figure said slowly, almost as thought he were bored. "Suzaku save us from idiots like you." He added quietly.

For a moment, nobody said anything and the sound of the rain hitting the road was heard, magnified in the silence. Kouji's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing in a non-forced deadly look. He let out a snarl that sounded almost like the growl of a wolf and grabbed the stranger's cloak, when a cry from one of his scouts stopped him.

"BOSS! We're under attack!"

It took a split second for Kouji to react, releasing the man, he roared at his men to take cover. Following his own advice, he dived and he heard the FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! of arrows as he rolled to cover behind a tree on the side of the road. He heard the horse scream and looked up in time to see it stagger and fall, several feathered shafts protruding from its chest, sides and flank. He heard some of his men cry out in pain verifying that some of the first volley had found their marks. Friends of the fallen bandits rushed out to retrieve them and like a pit in his stomach Kouji knew what was about to happen.

"STAY DOWN! GET OUT OF THERE!" He roared as another volley came down, claiming the ones who had rushed to aid the fallen. In the back of his mind, he realized that the silent and annoying stranger was not amongst the fallen. One of his scouts, eyes wide, crawled over to him, shaking.

"B-Boss…it's the Kutou Bandits!" he said shakily.

Kouji's eyes narrowed and he swore, no longer acting.

"Nakago." He spat the word as though it was dirty and left a bad taste in his mouth. The Seiryuu warrior was no friend of theirs, quite the opposite in fact. Taking a breath, he scanned the woods and the road to access the situation. Four of his men lay moaning and crying out in the road, blood pooling around them. The rest of his men had made it to cover. He cursed again.

"We have to get out of here now." He snapped to the frightened man. He whispered quick instructions to the young man, who crawled away to inform others. Through hand signals the rest of the bandits got the message soon afterwards and began to move quietly away to safer ground. Kouji stayed his eyes on his fallen men. Reaching into his pocket he drew out his plan. Before Tasuki had left, he had given him the rest of his spell cards. Drawing on one of them, Kouji yelled the spell and twenty black wolves erupted into existence with howls. He allowed himself a small grin when he heard anxious murmurs come from the woods ahead of him. He would have to tell Tasuki that when he came back, he would appreciate it.

Genrou had been one of the only people the Kutou gang actually feared, and Kouji was relying on that fact. Tasuki had once beaten the Kutou Bandit leader with his wolves and spared his life, and this was not a forgotten fact. With a chilling howl, the wolves raced snarling towards the hidden enemy. It was now that Kouji moved. He vaulted from his cover, grabbing the nearest man under the arms and began to drag him to the cover of the trees. He allowed another small gin as yells of panic and cried of Genrou came from the wood. He knew it was working because the deadly volley of arrows had ceased temporarily while the Kutou gang fought with Kouji's wolves. Racing back again, he grabbed the next man, dragging him to the woods to lie him down with his companions. "You two behave." He murmured softly to them. Still no arrows. He ran out again for the next man, thanking the kami that the Kutou guys had not looked over here y- FLIT! FLIT! FLIT!

"Kuso!" he yelled covering the man with his body. Miraculously, he was not hit, and dragged the man unceremoniously into the woods, practically flinging him to safety. He took a deep breath before running out again. By now he heard angry voices, and knew the illusions were gone. He had just grabbed the last man under the arms when, FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! Thinking quickly, he shielded the man, his eyes widening when he saw that he was young, maybe one of the youngest in the gang and he looked up at him with frightened eyes. Sudden pain made Kouji scream, as an arrow penetrated his armor to bury itself in his left shoulder. He fought the urge to groan as the pain began to spread and once again began to drag the young boy. FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! Too soon, the volley was back. Dropping over the boy as protection, Kouji gritted his teeth but he could not stop his cry of pain as another arrow penetrated his armor.

"Mr. Boss Sir…please leave me…" the boy said weakly, still brave even as his life blood slipped out of his body. As he spoke, Kouji was reminded of Tasuki…he had been just like this boy. Kouji's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"I'm not leaving you." He said, his voice harsh as he fought the overwhelming pain. "I do not leave my men behind." He said, once again grabbing the boy and dragging him further towards the trees and safety. FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! Kouji fell on top of the boy as another arrow buried itself in his flesh. It was getting harder to see.

"Boss…" the boy said shakily. Opening one eye, he gazed at the boy and dragged him again. / not you too… im not going to lose anymore/ FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! FLIT! Inescapable. He let out a cry of anguish as he was struck again and again. He couldn't move…he wasn't going to make it.

"Promise you'll take care of em'" Tasuki said softly.

Kouji had locked eyes with him.

"I swear. I can protect these idiot's until you get back."

"RAAAAA!" He yelled, dragging him the last few steps, each step, losing more blood. The next volley of arrows made him fall to the ground into the woods. But they had made it. They were safe.

"I promise, Tasuki. I swear it."

Blackness crept into his vision until everything was gone.

"I promise…until you come back."

The last thing he remembered was the look on Tasuki's face, a perfect mix of relief and gratitude shining in those bright amber eyes, as the stars winked overhead.

And then nothing.

Authors Note:

Raeka-chan: bwahahahahahha - hee hee…gomen asai!I had to do it…Chapter ten is so long because It has to make up for the horrendous lack in Chapter 9, and also it took so long to update….School takes so much time! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and yes, to those who asked, those words in chapter 9, (friends never say goodbye, etc.) hai! You guessed right! Miguel and Tulio, form the Road to El Dorado…im glad u liked that Tek-san ….arigato to Tama-san, Rae-san, Chi-chan, and z-Chan for encouraging me to not give up like the lowly student I am…arigato gozaimasu! Also, a thank you to irishhanyou for proofing and helping me flesh the idea out a bit more, and Silver Spirit-kun for pointing out that one option…I will try to incorporate it more in the future! Please keep reading! Enjoy!