I don't own FY

I'm back and I'm ALIVE! Lol. Sorry for the delay guys, school's been nothing but work this semester and I've had very little free time to do things fun, such as writing my stories, which is rather depressing T.T Currently I'm on spring break, but I go back tomorrow… and this is the only story I've worked on since I've gotten home n.n;; Laziness kicked in because I could finally relax for the first time in ages and, aside from that, my mind has been in 'la-la land'. Hehehe… sorry….

I can't promise regular updates, but school is almost over (I'm done beginning of May) and after that I should be back on track. Until then I'll update when I can.

I've been informed that I can't respond to review (thanks for that heads up by the way otaku-no-miko), which sucks. I think the rule is rather stupid, but I'd better follow it before some mod (or whoever) gets mad and deletes something. But in a brief overview of things, thank you for all your kind reviews, I'm glad your enjoying the story and, let's see who our trouble making, Chichiri shoving, character is. I think that should be allowed, right? …ah… erm… right.

Enjoy.

Chapter 24

A cold, wet sensation rushed up from his toes to engulf his entire body as it continued to pull him down into its mighty depths. Visibility was minimal and the ability to hear was clouded by the mass all about him. The mask that had been clenched so tightly in his fist moment before fell from his lax hand and slowly continued to sink down into the darkness beneath his feet.

It took a moment for Chichiri's brain to catch up with his body and realize he was underwater and needed to get to the surface in order to breathe again. Looking up he quickly made sure he was facing the right direction before kicking his legs to carry him upward.

Within seconds he broke the surface of the lake only to cough up the bits of water that had attempted to enter his lungs. His bangs lay flat against his head, half of which clung to his face as if glued there. Pealing these offending hairs off his face he finally took in a deep breath of fresh air and looked up to the rock he had once been standing.

His mind was shocked, but his heart fluttered in what could only be described as joy, even if he was currently in a cold lake, at the sight. Sitting on the pads of her feet with her arms resting causally on her knees and an innocent smile on her lips was none other than Keara. She waved down at him when she saw him looking at her.

Chichiri chuckled despite himself and was about to say something when she began signing something. First she pointed at him then she began turning her head to the side as her hand came to pinch her nose closed. The meaning was obvious, as was the fact that she was making fun of him.

The monk fought back a grin as he edged his way towards the shore. His playful side began flaring, even if he no longer had his mask. "First to throw me into the lake, now you're saying I smell. When I get my hands on you…" he let the playful warning hang in the air and began swimming quickly to shore as Keara picked herself and ran to the other end of the rock to get away.

As soon as he was able he ran the rest of the way out of the lake after Keara, whom had gotten a head start on him. Darting through the nearby tree's it proved to be more difficult to keep the girl within his sights, but not enough to lose her. Besides for this there was another obstacle keeping them apart - while he had longer legs than her, allowing him to cover more space with his strides, she was more agile, which enabled her to keep the distance between them.

"You can't run forever," he called out with a laugh. The air whipped around him as the chase continued, effectively drying him as he went and making him colder than before, not that the he paid much heed to the latter fact.

Quite suddenly Keara vanished from sight, causing a jolt of worry to pass through his mind. People don't just vanish without reason! He came to stop in the last place he had seen her and looked all about as he breathed heavily.

"Keara," he called out. When there was no response he called out again, this time concern filling his voice. "Kea- ow," a hand flung to the back of his head where something had just hit him. Turning around he came see an average sized acorn sitting upon the ground silently mocking him.

Pulling his hand away he looked up with a small smile, "Keara come out." Turning slightly he looked for the hidden teen amongst the trees and foliage, only to arch his back and have a hand fly to the left end of his backside as another acorn hit him there. "Keara!"

Turning in the direction the acorn had come from he saw Keara jumping out of a tree and dart off once more. Quick to react there was little space this time between them, but Chichiri, once again, could not gain on her if he kept up the same way he was.

Deviating from his current path he darting through the trees, kesa billowing wildly behind him, hoping that he could somehow get in pace with her. Keara did not seem to have noticed Chichiri's change of course, nor did she notice that he had in fact managed to catch up to her… not until it was too late that is.

Seemingly out of nowhere Chichiri came out and grabbed her around the waist. The momentum between them caused the duo to do spin in a full circle and they only kept from falling to the ground because of the monks' firm footing. Keara's initial shock turned into glee as she broke into silent laughter, one voiced through Chichiri as he chimed in with his own laughter.

"Fin-ally-caught-you," Chichiri half laughed, half panted into her hair as they came to a rest. He tightened his grip slightly around her waist and rested his forehead on the back of her head as he tried to steady his breathing. She had given him quite a chase, one that also left her trying to catch her breath, though she was no where near as bad as he was.

Breathing deeply through his nose Chichiri caught the two scents clinging to her hair- one of a campfire and the other sweet like a flower. It was a strange combination, but it was pleasant all the same and he found himself sighing happily. Aside from this he was more than a little content with holding her so close. In fact it was almost too good to be true, which is where his mind took its queue to come in and be far too practical. It kept reminding him of Kouran, of Hikou and the pain he had been forced to endure because he had loved them so.

Keara sensed the tension growing within the monk as his grasp around her waist tightened. With a sorry smile she gently stroked the back of one of his hands with her thumb in an attempt to calm him of whatever troubles he was enduring. What his conflict was she could only imagine, but she was almost positive that it had to do with his past, as it always seemed to.

After a moments thought Keara came to a decision and turned around in his arms to gaze up at his face. His jaw was clenched, eye closed and brows knitted together in what looked like a mixture of anguish and confusion. She had been right to think this had something to do with his past, his face clearly displayed that to her now. With a weary smile she reached up and brushed the back of her fingers against the scared side of his face. The contact caused Chichiri to open his eye and look down at her with his forlorn expression.

It pained Keara to see him look so miserable, but she was not sure if she could heal the scars that remained on his heart and mind after so many years. Despite this thought however she did not pull away from him, nor did he from her. All she wanted to do at the moment was cheer the helpless man up, make him as jovial as he had been moments ago when chasing her. Pulling her gaze from his she watched as she brought her index finger to the corner of his sealed eye and proceeded to make a crescent like shape down the length of his cheek to the corner of his lips. From there she traced the top of his upper lip, then the bottom of the lower one only to stop half way and tap her finger against both his lips. It was an action that made the monk smile softly.

Keara raised her gaze to meet his and found her smile widening slightly at the fact that she had managed to take some of his anguish away. She only proceeded to tap him gently on the nose from there, having been unable to resist the urge. Just as last time he gave a reaction, but this one brought her hand into his and away from his face, his teeth showing partially through his smile.

Looking at her captured hand for a moment Keara grinned and looked back at the man who had captured it. Before he knew what happened her other hand was on his shoulder and they were moving about as if dancing to music that remained unheard. There was no way to stop it, Chichiri laughed merrily as they moved about the area.

After several minutes of this play, he brought the dance to a stop by simply wrapping his free arm around her waist firmly and spinning once in place, effectively taking her feet off the ground.

"I'm sorry," Chichiri uttered when her feet were back on the ground, "I must make you nervous with my mood changes."

'More like mood swings,' she thought with a smile.

"It's just-" as he tried to explain a finger on his lips cut him off. "Keara-" he spoke against her finger, attempting to get her to listen. The action was in vain however because she got out from his loosened grasp and disappeared behind him, apparently into his kesa due to the tug he received from it.

Chichiri smiled despite himself and undid the loop on his shoulder that held the cape in place. Upon its release he turned to face the one hiding in it, only to have darkness consume him when it was flung over his head. With a chuckle he pulled it off quickly only to see thin air. As he turned around to look for the elusive teenage girl he caught glimpse of her hair as she followed his movement and had to smile at her playfulness.

Reaching a hand behind him he was able to stop her from continuing on her path around him, giving him enough time to whirl around and lock both arms around her. "No where to go now," he chuckled.

Keara gave him a devilish look before promptly squeezing his side, causing him to twitch but not loosen his grasp. If anything the action had caused him to tighten it- not that she seemed to mind since she was laughing silently at him. With a toothy smile and a merry gleam in his eye the monk brought a hand up to her face. "You're something else Ke- my finger's aren't meant to be eaten!"

The sudden outburst was not without reason. Keara had been watching his fingers come closer to her face and had, rather childishly, caught his thumb gently between her teeth when it came too close to her mouth. At his outburst she clenched her teeth slightly harder together- not enough to cause harm, but enough to leave an imprint of her teeth on his skin- before letting it go.

A small smile played on Chichiri's lips for a brief moment as he removed his hand from her face and whipped the saliva now on his thumb off on his pants. The look quickly fell after that however. With a sigh he murmured something almost too softly for Keara to hear, but she managed to catch the six words uttered, "I'm afraid of losing you too."

Keara did the one thing that came to mind and that was to hug the man tightly. To an on looker it would have seemed like a friendly gesture between friends, but to Chichiri it meant more than any words could have. The action in itself seemingly told him that everything would be alright, that she was not afraid of taking the risks and, perhaps most importantly, that she cared about him as much as he cared about her.

The revelation was heart warming and mind easing, but not enough to make the worried side of him vanish. "Keara…"

At the sound of her name the girl rubbed her cheek against his chest, but did not look up. Chichiri took in a breath and said her name once more, only he received no response this time. With a frown the monk brought one hand up to her face and made her look up at him. "You could get hurt…"

Keara's face softened even more than it already had been as she shrugged her shoulders. It was as if she was saying 'I'm not worried about it.'

"What am I going to do with you?" Chichiri asked softly with a smile. Her only response was to blow air at him from between her smiling lips. The cool current brushed against his lips gently, as if to tempt him into answering his own question.

As if to comply with this temptation his body seemingly moved on its own violation, bringing the two of them ever closer. All thought of his past were pushed to the back of him mind as his heart took over, the quarrel between the two having been finished and a victor decided once and for all. His heart felt light and the almost forgotten feeling of butterfly's fluttered wildly within his stomach. Keara was gazing sweetly, he'd even go as far as to say lovingly, up at him and he knew his emotions were being openly displayed as well.

"Keara," he murmured gently, his lips scarcely touching hers as he spoke her name. Not a second later did their lips connecting in a soft and passionately sweet kiss within the waning light of the sunset.

Unbeknownst to the duo a set of eyes watched them with an evil glint shinning within them.

Awwwwwwwww XD

Hey, wait a second! Who's watching them! Uh oh!

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Thanks!