Fushigi Yuugi:

Life As It Is

'AHHHHHHHH! T-Tasuki! Help ME!'

'…I-I know that voice! It's sounds familiar…Oh my…is it Miaka?'

'…Oh, T-T-Tasuki' –it was obvious the person was crying- '…it…it burns…Tasuki, it burns! It's burning me from the inside! My soul feels as though it's evaporating from the heat! I…I can't…live…onward…'

'(gasp) No, it's…K-KOA!" Tasuki jumped up out of bed, forgetting he had made it back to Konan's Imerpial castle last night. With sweat trickling down his cheeks and forehead, he subconsciously brought his hand up to his heart. He felt as though by the time his mind registered one beat, another took its place. With the inability to understand anything at the moment, his mind played dead and drew a blank. His breathing was almost nonexistent and eyes were as wide as his hands' length. The red-hair man sat there for almost a minute before a sweat drop ran over his eye and blurred his view. That seemed to snap him out of his trance since he blinked for the first time in who knows how long.

"Arg, damn…something! Stupid fear for making me freak out, stupid mind that won't work!…AND STUPID…what are these anyway? Why won't they…go away…" After trying to clean his eyes out with no result of change, he realized it wasn't sweat, but unreasoned waterdrops coming from his eyes, not around them. They were soundless, gentle tears. Nothing to fuss about, but something touching to Genro. His face relaxed and he finally finished his 'stupid list'.

"…Stupid Koa, for doing this to me."

Obviously, this dream or night terror was disturbing to the fire-weilding celestial warrior. What hit home most of it all was the pitch and tone of her voice. And on top of that, what she said…

'…Tasuki, it burns!…My soul feels as though it's evaporating from the heat! I…I can't…live…onward…'

His grip tightened on his chest. Why on Earth, no pun intended, would he dream the Earth goddess saying that? He had just learned of her the day before and his mind was curious about something like that happening to her? Why was what he could not understand. Sure, a blood oath was new to him so blaming this on that would be convient and easier for him, but it didn't not settle his on-edge nerves. Besides, this 'Enzeru' chick was 'fire' not Koi…

"AH! Ko-A! Ko-A! Man, I gotta get that right sooner or later…" he yawned his thoughts aloud as he streched in an upright position. He rubbed his now clearing eyes and turned to look toward his paper thin doors, wanting to see some light. Only to come face-to-face with a…

"HI-YAAAH, Y'KNOW!" …a hyper…er-active chibi Chichiri, complete with a 'Kitty' on his head.

"AAAHHH!…phew, ya right! What the heck are you doing in my room this early anyway?" growled the shocked now one hundred percent wide awake man.

"But you were groaning in your sleep, it sounded painful, y'know? And what are you talking about, early? It's an hour 'til sunset, y'know." The celestial monk confirmed.

"WHA--?" the ex-mountain bandit howled as he jumped up and ran for his door. He wipped it open to reveal a twenty degree sun in the sky.

"…Aw man, Koa's gonna kill…"

"I've been meaning to ask you by the way, who's this Koa you're always thinking about?"

"HUH? I ain't always thinking about no one! How can I when we just met yesterday?"

"Oh? Tell me all about it, y'know!"

"…Uh…" 'Okay, if I tell she'll really kill me!'

'You bet your scorched backside I would!' the thought-of girl answered telepathically.

"AHH-HA- HAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Tasuki squealed out of shock.

"Hmm? Tasuki, are you alright?"

"Y…y-yeah…I'm…great…"

'Answer his question truthfully and I'll show what the fires of hell feel like without Enzeru's help!'

"'Fire'?" '…Tasuki, it burns!…' he seemed to lose his spunk after that.

"Tasuki, are you having a war inside your head or something?" the celestial warrior asked his fellow samurai.

'You could say that…' "…To answer your question Chichiri," Tasuki sounded rather solemn, "I met her yesterday while I went travelling for a bit. That's all I'm gonna say."

"Oh, you're no fun, y'know," Chichiri pouted. He returned to regular size and knocked Kitty off his head from his magical growth spurt, "I guess I'll leave you alone then, y'know? C'mon, Kitty." And in mere moments, the 'good morning sunshine' crew had left the room.

"Phew…" Tasuki sighed rather emotionlessly, "I wasn't sure if he would leave or not."

'GENRO TASUKI!' Panic returned once again, 'You promised me you'd come back to the village to see me today! Breaking a promise is burdening your soul with a lie, y'know!'

"Ah, she sounds like Chichiri…wait, lie? OH NO! I lied to Chichiri! The pain thingy! Oh man, here it com—"

'Ha ha, silly,' the feminie voice in his head sounded as though she had cheered up, 'That only works when you lie to the person you commitef the blood oath with. And contrary to your belief, you did not lie to your chibi friend. You just decided not to continue on.'

"Man, she has so many mood swings…"

'You know, you have to think what you say aloud, so I can still hear you even if we aren't communicating per say.'

"EEP! S-sorry, but it's true…don't hurt me!"

'I won't need to if I see you within today's time! When are you coming to see me? Whether you want to or not, you promised, and—'

"N-NO! …I want to. I just…lost track of time," he sounded nervous and scared at first, then changed back to his regular self, "I'll be there soon, alright? I can only move so fast!"

'…Uh…right. Well then, I shall see you upon your arrival. I promise not to disturb you until then. Good-by—'

"WAIT!" Tasuki shouted at such a high pitch, he was extremely thankful glass windows hadn't been invented yet.

'Hmm?' was Koa's way of answering.

"…Well, I, uh…I…forgot how to get to your village. Ha ha…ha. Koa? You still there?"

'Y-yeah. I just seemed to have gotten a dizzyspell and had fallen over. I shall connect with you in a few moments when my head stops spinning.'

! Outside the room… !

"Heh, okay. Maybe you could ask Arashi to fan you. Or maybe Jem to get you a wet cloth…That ain't labouring them! They should want to help you if they can!…You sure?…Okay, I'll be on my way in a minute."

"Hmm…" a certain monk mused as he stood, leaning against the outside wal of his friend's room, "It seems our little Tasuki has finally earned himself manners and better people skills, y'know?"

"Meow?" Kitty asked, sounding confused, as he tilted his head slightly to the right.

"But I wonder…who'd he receive these skills for and from?…Maybe we should find out. Whatta you say?"

"Meo—"

"KITTY! DINNER!" Mitsukake's voice rang throughout the palace.

"MEOW!" Kitty answered almost as loud and ran off in the sound's direction.

"Well then, I guess it'll just be me, y'know. HOOA!"

And in a puff of smoke, Chichiri was no longer there. At the exact moment the smoke cleared, Tasuki burst out of his room.

"Alrighty Koa, lead the way!…Right, I'm off!…Nah, I'll just be back tomorrow morning before anyone wakes up."

Tasuki thought it would be that simple. But little did he know, or notice, there was a little chibi resting in his hair.

! Later that night, a few treehops away from the village… !

"Aw man! It didn't take this long last time!" Genro whined after escaping 'Honeybuns' for the second time on his second trip to the Elemental village.

'That's because last time you took the easy route, one any living creature could take and follow you! You seem to have Lady Luck on your side, since no one noticed your presence.'

"I wouldn't call that luck…" he sweat dropped.

'Call it what you wish then. Now, take the next twelve trees right and continue on straight.'

"Okay…h-hey, Koa?"

'Hmm?' she answered in the same fashion as before.

"Have you ever…I don't, this'll sound weird, but…have you ever been horribly burned or something?"

'…No, not that I can recall. Wh—(gasp)!'

"What? What's wrong?"

'…N-nothing. Why do you ask?'

"I just…had this weird dream last night. You were calling for me, but I couldn't see you, only hear you. You were crying, telling me you were burning from the inside; your soul was evaporating from the heat. You told me…you couldn't live onward…"

'…Tasuki, does that nightly vision worry you?'

"Uh…maybe." He was so thankful she couldn't see him blush.

'Thank you for your concern,' she sounded really happy, and that made him smile, 'Let's just hope that wasn't a premontion.'

His smile faded. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

'Okay, you're about fifteen trees away from—'

"Koa! What are you talking about?" his seriousness was a bit frightening.

'…It's just…when each Elemental's body finally excepts their element, each person goes through a different process. And—AH! Tasuki, hold on! Don't come any…'

"HIYA!" a battle cry echoed through the trees.

"What the—WHOA!" Before he could finish his sentence, he had been knocked out of the tree he was in, which happened to be the one right in fornt of the village, and was being used as foot stool. Whoever this was also thought it was necessary to stand on his left wrist while bringing his right arm back and threatening to rip it off.

"Ow! Just who the heck are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing, red-head! What do you think your doing near my village?"

"Your village? This isn't yours, it's Ko—wait, are you…Enzeru?"

Author notes:

This chapter will most likely be the shortest.

Next time:

-Enzeru enters the scene!

-Chichiri pops into the scene

-Enzeru releases Tasuki from her crushing grip and ends up groping the Konan Emperor!

Stay tuned! 

Jiki-out! PcEz!