Naturally, Tamahome took his sweet time waking up. When he finally did, his first reaction was to curse loudly at Kenshin, having conveniently forgotten that he had attacked the tiny redhead first. Nuriko hauled the blue-haired teen into the air, his rose colored eyes promising the dangling boy a world of pain. While he was helpless, Hotohori approached and began interrogating the suspended boy angrily.
Kenshin just watched everything with a bored look. He was accustomed to violence. His eyes widened in horror when that thought brought to memory the fact that he still hadn't gotten back to do the laundry. He was a dead man.
Sighing, Kenshin broke up the heated argument between the three young men by walking directly into their view and placing one hand on his sword hilt. Instantly, Nuriko and Hotohori blanched and backed off, leaving Tamahome sitting in the dirt looking very confused and indignant. Amused, Kenshin dropped his hands back to his sides.
"Why didn't you come back?" he asked calmly. Tamahome scowled.
"Bandits," he spat, still upset about being tossed around like a rag doll at Nuriko's hands. Hotohori frowned slightly and he elaborated. "The area's no longer safe and I can't leave my family here with this going on." Kenshin nodded.
"That's understandable, de gozaru," he conceded. He turned to Hotohori. "I'd like to request a slight delay to take care of this problem, de gozaru."
Hotohori's frown deepened into a scowl. "We've already taken too much time to come after Tamahome. We need to resume our journey to see Taiitsu-kun."
Nuriko froze and took a step back, worried. The battle of wills had resumed and he did not want to be caught in the middle. Seeing Tamahome's confused look at the pair, Nuriko shook his head and motioned for him to stand clear.
"It won't take much time," Kenshin said firmly. "I think this is an acceptable delay." Hotohori noticed the distinct lack of 'de gozaru' in his speech patterns and paused, clearly wondering if he should back down. Tamahome intervened, despite the warning look he had received.
"Whatever you decide is fine," Tamahome said, drawing their attention. "But either way, I'm staying."
"I'll go with you," Kenshin offered, intentionally ignoring Hotohori's sour look. Finally, the emperor sighed and nodded.
"Very well. After we take care of the bandits in the area we'll proceed to Mount Taikyoku to see Taiitsu-kun. Agreed?"
"Hai, de gozaru," Kenshin answered cheerfully. Nuriko let out a breath he had been holding. He had never heard of anyone standing up to the emperor and winning and was stunned to have witnessed it.
"Shall we begin?" Hotohori asked, sounding impatient. Kenshin fought back a grin at his small victory.
"Hai, de gozaru," Kenshin said happily. "Where did you last see them, Tamahome?"
"In the city," the blue-haired teen answered warily. Seeing Kenshin looking that happy had him slightly worried. "It's about two hours from here."
Kenshin's grin grew wider as Hotohori's scowl grew darker. Nuriko quickly backed away, muttering something about getting the horses. Tamahome watched the warring bishonen closely, debating on whether he should be worried or amused. After a quick deliberation, he decided that it would be in the best interest of his health to stay out of the blossoming war.
Moving quickly towards Nuriko, Tamahome claimed a horse before things got really ugly. The two swordsmen were still staring at each other and it was starting to get frightening. Pretending like he was oblivious to the evil looks that were passing between the two warriors, he kicked his horse into a trot towards the city. Nuriko jumped onto a second horse and quickly followed him.
"It's this way," he called over his shoulder. Kenshin looked up immediately and waved.
Tamahome and Nuriko realized the next problem immediately. Between the two swordsmen, only one horse remained. They waited anxiously for the impending battle to commence, both knowing who would win if it came to blows. Surprisingly, Kenshin backed down without blinking, waving the seething emperor towards the last mount. Somewhat mollified by the generous act, Hotohori followed the group silently.
The journey to the village afterwards was entirely uneventful. Tamahome and Nuriko spoke freely during the trip, Kenshin occasionally speaking up. Hotohori stopped scowling after the first hour and began peering around, intrigued by the forest and the small wooden houses they passed. It didn't take a genius to realize that it was his first departure from the castle. Despite his protests, he seemed to be enjoying himself.
Reaching the village, Tamahome only had to point to the area where he had been involved in a scuffle. Kenshin blinked, grinned and vanished. The three Suzaku seishi stared after where he had disappeared in utter shock before kicking their horses into gallops to follow the diminutive redhead.
After a quick chase through the trees, Kenshin leapt into the air, startling the horses into bucking wildly. Strings of curses echoed through the air, the mildest of which nearly had them bleeding from the ears. Even with the struggle of controlling their mounts and ignoring the jaw-dropping profanities, the seishi clearly saw Kenshin descending in a graceful arc that ended with a loud cracking noise.
When the dust cleared, the three warriors stared in shock at the first thing they saw. A redhead lying prone in the dirt, apparently unconscious. Crying out in surprise, Nuriko leapt from his horse to aid his fallen comrade, quickly rolling the limp form onto his back. He froze when he saw a young face adorned with prominent fangs. Blinking at someone who was most definitely not Kenshin, he pushed one thumb into the slack mouth and pulled to the side, studying the longish canines with distinct interest.
It was Tamahome that broke the silence with a soft groan.
"That's not one of them," he muttered.
"ORO?" Kenshin wailed. "He attacked me, de gozaru!"
"You probably frightened him," Hotohori said logically. Kenshin made a face.
"That's beside the point, de gozaru."
"What was he doing out in the middle of nowhere anyways?" Tamahome asked, willing to defend Kenshin, the only one among his companions willing to help him.
"We could always wake him up and see," Nuriko suggested.
* * *
Naturally, the redhead took his sweet time waking up. Kenshin was obviously very free with the business end of his sword. The four waiting fighters were forewarned of the redheaded teen waking up by the string of profanities that drifted through the air. Of all of the observers of the uncouth behavior, Kenshin was the only one who didn't seem to mind. After all, he was used to Sano, so what chance did the fanged one stand?
Kenshin was immediately proved wrong when the group's second redhead let out a string of curses that would have made Sano bleed from the ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that his friends were hard pressed to endure the impossible language. Hotohori was trying not to faint. Tamahome was bright red. Nuriko, however, was desperately trying not to laugh himself sick.
As for himself, Kenshin was torn between mortification that a language could be slaughtered so horribly and amusement at the boy's creativeness. The latter won out and he grinned. The boy sounded too much like Sano for him to be upset.
"So," Kenshin began, cutting off the tirade. "What brings you out to the middle of nowhere?"
The redhead on the ground glared at him, recognizing his attacker. After a few seconds, the scowl melted away, replaced by a fanged grin. He sat up and shoved his unruly hair into some semblance of order.
"I must say, I'm humbled to have been beaten by such a beautiful little woman," he said, grinning at Kenshin, completely ignoring the question.
Ignoring the snickering behind him, Kenshin merely smiled politely in return.
"I have to correct you, de gozaru," he said softly. The three bishonen behind him watched eagerly, waiting for the shocked expression when Kenshin announced that he was male. "Just because I'm little doesn't mean I'm defenseless."
Silence reigned supreme behind him, but Kenshin didn't care. Since everyone was dead set on assuming he was female, he decided that for once he wasn't going to correct the error on his gender. It would be much more amusing when the other redhead found out for himself.
"Of course not," the other redhead answered smoothly. Inwardly, he was about to go insane. He didn't like women, but at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to be rude to one. "I'm Tasuki." He extended his hand, oblivious to the fact that most women didn't want to be greeted by a simple handshake. Not being a woman, however, Kenshin didn't care.
"I'm Kenshin Himura, de gozaru," he returned, still ignoring the odd looks his companions were throwing him. "Now, as to why you're out here…"
"Oh, that," Tasuki snorted, cutting him off. "It's nothing to concern yourself with. Three pretty ladies shouldn't worry about such things when they have only a single chaperone."
Kenshin choked, his eyes watering. He was growing used to people thinking he was a woman. The fact that the fanged idiot thought that Nuriko was a female too was no surprise. After all, the purple-haired teen still had Hotohori and Tamahome fooled. But the mere thought that Tasuki assumed Hotohori to be female as well was even funnier. He watched gleefully as Hotohori slowly turned from red to purple.
"I am not a woman!" Hotohori snapped indignantly. "And neither is…" He trailed off when Kenshin raised his hand, turning every color of the rainbow in his efforts to refrain from laughing.
"Neither is who?" Tasuki asked slowly. His eyes flickered between Kenshin and Nuriko before finally settling on the purple-haired seishi. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to insult you by calling you a woman. It's just that you're dressed like one, ya know." Absolutely no tact, Kenshin decided, infinitely amused.
Again, Hotohori started to protest, this time stopping before uttering a sound when he saw Nuriko trying not to fall out of his saddle laughing. On the other hand, Kenshin was debating on whether or not to still be amused. Of the two of them, Nuriko was in drag and yet it was he that was assumed to be a woman. Finally, he snorted, deciding that it was better to ignore the fanged idiot now so as to scare the life out of him later. He momentarily paused to consider that he had been spending way too much time around Sano if he was seriously considering scaring some innocent bystander out of his mind. Another few moments of deliberation found him not caring that he was going to be shortening the teen's lifespan by several years. It would be funny.
Tamahome stared at the two redheads before deciding that he didn't want to be involved. It was safer that way. Nuriko opted to watch, thinking the situation hilarious. Hotohori just shook his head and ignored them. Kenshin ignored all three of them, an unholy look of glee settling in his amethyst eyes.
"I'd really like to know something, de gozaru," he said, batting his eyes. Nuriko choked on his tongue. When Tasuki's eyes had widened to their fullest extent and a hint of pink appeared across his cheeks, Kenshin continued, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Do you have a red kanji, de gozaru ka?"
"K-kanji?" Tasuki stuttered. Whatever he had been expecting, that hadn't been it. He locked gazes with Kenshin, brown eyes meeting purple in a slightly suspicious manner. He shoved back the sleeve on his right arm, exposing a brilliant red marking.
"No way," Nuriko gasped.
"How did you know?" Tasuki asked slowly, regaining his composure.
"I seem to be crawling with seishi," Kenshin chuckled. "Won't be any trouble at all to gather them for the ceremony to summon Suzaku."
Tasuki made a face, slowly processing the information. His brown eyes flickered over the three bishonen staring at him and then finally to Kenshin, who was still smiling widely. He nodded slowly.
"You're the priestess then?" he asked. That set Nuriko off again. Tamahome coughed loudly when he tried to suppress his laughter. Even the emperor smirked.
"I'll be summoning Suzaku," Kenshin confirmed.
"So you came out here to look for me?" Tasuki continued.
Kenshin shook his head. "We came here to get Tamahome before going to see Taiitsu-kun, de gozaru. But we can't leave until we deal with some bandits," he said, waiting for the redhead's reaction. Tasuki made a face.
"I'm actually after them too," he admitted. Tamahome stared at him in shock. "Ya see, I'm actually the leader, but some pompous idiot thought he could waltz in and take over the place."
"You're responsible for this?" Tamahome asked, a dangerous gleam entering his eyes. Tasuki shook his head.
"Hell no. The guys never act like that when I'm around. They know better than that."
"So if we dispose of the usurper, then the area will no longer be plagued by bandits?" Hotohori asked calmly. Tasuki blinked at him before nodding happily.
"Yeah. Once he's gone, there won't be a problem."
"And once the situation is under control, will you accompany us to Mount Taikyoku?"
"Of course," Tasuki answered. "Anything to get rid of that moron."
Hotohori nodded, congratulating himself on finding another seishi. Between four seishi and one samurai, how hard could it be to defeat a group of bandits?
Tamahome was undecided on what to think about the newest addition to the group. He was simply glad to get rid of the threat to the village. He quickly came to the conclusion that didn't overly care who they picked up as long as it kept the area safe.
Kenshin and Nuriko exchanged amused looks as they followed Tasuki down the trail. They had seen the look on the redheaded teenager's face and knew exactly why he had agreed so readily to join the group. Struggling to keep from laughing hysterically, they began to quietly plot new ways to embarrass the hormonal fang boy.
To Be Continued…
Yay! I finally got over my writer's block on this! Unfortunately, now that I know what I want to do, I have no more time. -_-; I'm really behind in reading for medical school, so please understand that this is going to be really slow… still. R&R to let me know that I'm loved for using up my precious study time to write this insane crossover of mine.