Disclaimer: Twin Girls does NOT own Fushigi Yuugi
Gemini: (Sweatdrops) Ummm.... that disclaimer seems really short compare to all our previous ones doesn't
it?
(readers nodded)
Gemini: Yeah I thought so too hehe..... oh well.... anyway... for those of you faithful readers who had
been wondering what had happened to Cancer last chapter (or maybe you really don't care which is fine
with me LOL) Don't worry (or not) She IS okay, I had manage to save her from the cliffhanger I had left
last chapter before she fell to an early grave.
Readers: WHAT?! (very puzzled in why Gemini would be so nice)
Cancer: (pops in and glomps Gemini with starry eyes) Yeah I know Gemini would never leave me to die like
that. Yeah!!! Admit it Gemini, YOU DO CARE FOR ME!!!! YOU MIIIISSSSS ME!!!!!
Gemini: WHAT?!?! (pushes Cancer away and jumps 10 feet away) I saved you because I need you to help with the
next chapter!!!
Cancer: Yeah but that means YOU NEEEEED MEEEEE!!!! (Starts to sing out of tune)
Gemini: Oh boy (rolls her eyes) Looks like that little cliff incident had left her a bit delirious, it would
be awhile before she returns to normal (sweatdrops) or as normal as one could get anyway.... hmmmm....
(starts thinking) or maybe......
(Gemini suddenly tackles Cancer on the floor and start pulling her hair)
Cancer: Owowowow!!!! GEMINI WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!?!
Gemini: Who are you?! (Starts pulling on Cancer's face) You can NOT be Cancer!! You're WAY TOO FRIENDLY
AND PEACEFUL to be the REAL Cancer!! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE REAL CANCER?!?!
Cancer: I AM the real Cancer you BAKA!! OW!!
(The two authors continues to fight just like old times)
Readers: (Grins and watches the two authors fight) Well at least we know that they are the REAL Gemini and Cancer LOL no one can fight like those two (Begins to put in bets in which author would win the fight) This is even better then watching wrestling!!
We would like to apologize for having to keep all you wonderful readers waiting for the next chapter.
Unfortunately we had been suffering from a temporary writers' block but hopefully this chapter would
satisfy you before school starts again. Enjoy! (stupid school.....)
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Chapter 13: Unwilling To Let Go
Tasuki swore fluently as he left the inn's bedroom and stalked out into the hallway. He ignored the glare he was receiving from a woman who had passed by him in the hall obviously not pleased with his choice of vocabulary. Like I care what she thinks he thought with a hint of amusement. But his amusement was once again replaced with the feeling of annoyance. Annoyance over a certain long dark-haired boy who did not understood the concept of 'staying-put' when he had specifically told him to wait in the room until he came back with dinner. However, much to his exasperation, Kayla was no longer there when he had returned and now he had to look for him.
He supposed he shouldn't be too f*cking surprised that Kayla wasn't there. The day when Kayla actually follows 'his' orders was the day he, Tasuki, a Suzaku Seishi; Genrou, Leader of the Mount Leikaku Bandits announces to the world that he likes girls (which in other words meant: impossible, never happening and 'you-must-be-crazy-if-you-think-this-is-possible' sort-of-way).
He supposed that he could have just waited in the room for Kayla to come back and then he could kick the boy's ass for leaving. However, patience was not his virtue. After pacing around the room for five f*cking minutes in waiting, he gave up and went out looking for Kayla instead. In his mind, he was already slowly thinking of various ways to yell at the boy (possibly give out threats that involves his Tessan and Kayla's hair) for his disappearing stunt.
In the mist of his swearing, annoyance and death threats, he couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was terribly wrong. It was possible that the feeling was only from the result that he was hungry (he didn't ate dinner yet after all). However, the feeling could be his instincts kicking in, warning him that something had happened to Kayla. Tasuki took a calming breath trying to suppress the small rising panic he felt beginning to build within and silently prayed that the feeling was just hunger and NOT the feeling of impending trouble.
However, in the past, he had learned that his instincts are so rarely proven wrong.
'Crack'
A small sound interrupted Tasuki's less-than-pleasant thoughts and he looked down as he felt something under his foot. Curiously, he bend down and picked up the object that was laying on the wooden floor in the hallway. Tasuki's eye widen in what one could relate to as shock and fear. The colour drained from his face leaving him looking considerably pale. He recognized the object he was now holding in his hand. Although he had really only seen and held it about once or twice, he was still able to recognize it.
It was Kayla's necklace!
There was no mistake about it, he could recognize it anywhere. The red stone that always seemed to glow with an inner light, the 'soul' character inscribed in the back. It was Kayla's necklace alright. After inspecting the necklace a bit more, he realized that the clasp of its silver chain was broken for reasons unknown. Almost as if it was yanked from someone's (or Kayla's in this case) neck. This unnerved him even more.
Kayla had always carried this necklace with him. Always. He never saw the boy took it off. The necklace was like the boy's life line, his only valuable possession. Tasuki highly doubted that Kayla would be so careless as to lose something as important to him as this. No. Something must have happened to Kayla to have him dropped something this precious. Something bad.
Tasuki stood up, his hand gripping the necklace as if he was trying to squeeze the jewel for answers. The slow rising panic he had felt from before had now became full-fledge warning bells ringing in his mind. Where is Kayla?! Could something have happen to him? Could he have been attacked? But he would have been able to defend himself.... couldn't he? A million questions flowed through his mind as he ran down the hallway and practically flew down the stairs , knocking down a few people with his (thanks to Suzaku) inhuman speed.
If someone did attacked and kidnapped Kayla, who would do such a thing? From what Kayla had revealed to him, he didn't really had any enemies except.... the answer hit Tasuki like a ton of boulders before he even finished that last thought. Kuso! They found him!!
His panic intensified into anger at the thought of the possibility. He reached outside and into the chilling air of the night. Damn, damn, DAMN....!! His eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness as he surveyed the area looking for something. Anything! Anything that could be a clue in telling him where they had taken Kayla.
It was still not too late, maybe he could still catch up to those bastards. The necklace couldn't have been lying in the hallway for too long before he had found it or else someone would have found it and taken the necklace for their own. No. They must still be nearby given the limited amount of time... only that was what he was hoping for.
His eyes flashed with determination, the worry was hidden within its depth. He was certain Kayla, his friend was in danger. No matter how many times they had argued and fight, they were friends maybe even brothers as ironic as it may seem. He had to save Kayla. Please don't let it be too late he silently prayed.
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The first thing that Kayla had noticed when she was making that shift back to reality was that she was tired and feeling weak for some reason. She felt so tired that she just wanted to fall back into unconsciousness. The next thing she had noticed was that she was moving. The only problem was that she was NOT the one moving herself. Something or someone was carrying her! She shifted her body in protest only to find in horror that her hands were tied behind her.
What the....?! Her eyes flew open in shock only to see the moving ground below her, an upside-down view of passing trees around her and a view of some stranger's back. She quickly realized that she was being carried over someone's shoulder! Kayla wanted to scream, to shout, to yell, to say anything in protest against what was happening; only she found that a cloth was tied against her mouth preventing her from speaking out. The only sound that emitted out of her was a few incoherent mumbles and squeals, but nothing more.
It took her a few seconds to remember what was happening and the memory filled her dread, anger and fear all at the same time causing her body to shudder violently. So it wasn't a nightmare, it's really happening! She thought despairingly. My uncle did find me and now he and a bunch of strange men are taking me back to the hell hole!
She began to struggle trying to ignore the exhaustion she was feeling in her body. It didn't took long for her to figure that the drug they had used to knock her out was still affecting her body. Even though she had awakened, the drug was still in her body causing her to feel weak and exhausted. Despite this setback, she continued to move in protest (at least as much as her body would allow her to move with her hands tied) Let me go you bastard! She thought angrily as she struggled in her holder's grip. Luckily her legs were able to kick her holder in the chest hearing a satisfying grunt in pain. However her small triumph was only short-lived.
"Stop struggling you little bitch!" her carrier was obviously not amused with her little tactics.
"What's going on back there?" Kayla froze as she heard her uncle's voice. Just the sounds of his voice send unshakable dread down her spine, making her feel sick in the stomach. Please anyone but him she pleaded silently, but it was futile.
"She's awake from the drug" she heard her carrier replied back, his gruff voice was filled with annoyance at the trouble she was causing him. Don't worry, it's not like I'm enjoying this either she thought darkly. She stopped the unavailing struggle, finding that she was only tiring herself quickly from the effects of the drug.
She closed her eyes tightly. She wanted all this to be a dream, just wanted this all to be just a terrible nightmare and when she wakes up, she would be okay and she would still be with Tasuki looking for Miaka, Nuriko and Hotohori. Tasuki her mind went back to the fiery-haired Seishi. He's still back in the inn, does he know that I'm missing? Is he looking for me? Does he even care?
That last question did not leave much comfort in her mind. She had been able to leave her necklace behind as a clue before she had fallen unconscious. Judging from the light of day, she had been unconscious for no more then a few hours, but the chances of Tasuki finding her necklace and figuring that she was in trouble was slim. It seemed hopeless.
"She's awake is she? Well let's see" she heard her uncle's voice and the sound of his footsteps as he came closer and closer to her. Unexpectedly, the man carrying her dropped her unceremoniously on the ground. Kayla suppressed the urge to cry out as she fell painfully on her side. Without the use of hands to support her, the fall (which had been considerably high) had knocked the wind out of her. It did not do well with her already weaken condition.
Despite her exhaustion, she glared at the man who had dropped her. However the man was unfazed by her glare with her hostility and only glared back at her as if she was worthless. She found about 8 men surrounding her, all most likely hired by uncle to search for her.
"Tsk Tsk. Well nice for you to finally wake up" the voice was anything but pleasant. Kayla shifted her gaze and glared at the owner of the voice. She tried to remain emotionless, not allowing him to see her fear even though the feeling was screaming within her wanting to escape. "Is that anyway to look at your family after so long?" her uncle spoke with cruel amusement. Kayla wished she wasn't being gagged, she wanted to scream.
To her disgust, her uncle grabbed her chin forcing her to look at him directly face to face. He regarded her appearance as if he had just noticed the way she had been dressing. "Very clever to disguise yourself as a boy, you practically fooled everyone.... except me of course I didn't raise you for 5 years without knowing better" he spoke with mock amusement. "I would have just let you leave and get a troublemaker out of my life, however.... I already arranged for you to be married to a rich merchant and he paid huge sums of money for you. I'm not about to let a little bitch like you spoil my plans!" her uncle's amusement was gone, only anger and annoyance showed now.
Kayla's anger rose as she listened to her uncle's words. Silently she wished that the intensity of her glare was enough to make the man self-combust into a million pieces. The fear she had been feeling was repressed by the overwhelming rage raising within her. She knew about her arranged marriage with some fat, perverted merchant she had never met before. It had been one of the main reasons why she had ran away in the first place. She wasn't going to let her relatives decide her fate like this; she wasn't going to let them ruin her life. That was why she had left. Now, she was furious with her uncle for taking her back to her prison and marrying her off to some cruel bastard she hadn't even seen in her life just so he could get paid a few more money to his already rich wealth.
She felt her whole body shook with barely contained rage. Oh how she wished that she could speak, then she could really tell her uncle off along with a few choice words she had picked up from Tasuki.
All of a sudden, her uncle slapped her hard against the face knocking her into the ground. She felt momentarily dazed from the impact making her feel worst other then her exhaustion. She was in no doubt that her cheek was going to bruise.
"Don't look at me like that you bitch! You should be grateful that I sold you to some rich merchant and not to a whorehouse instead!" he hissed at her venomously. "Pick her up, we're wasting time here" he ordered. The men who had watched the whole scene emotionlessly obeyed without question just like her uncle had paid them to be.
Kayla curled herself into a cocoon-like shape, burying her face in the grass. She wanted to make herself as small as possible as the men approach closer towards her intending to pick her up again. That hit from her uncle had brought back all the terrible memories of her uncle's abuse in the past five years when she had been alone. Just like how she was right now. She couldn't fight, not like this. The feeling fury was abandoning her now leaving her feeling more vulnerable then before. Stay away from me she whimpered silently shutting her eyes tightly. Tasuki, where are you?
"Don't you know its f*cking cowardly to gang up on a guy like that?"
Kayla started violently at the familiar voice that penetrated through her fears. It couldn't be....... could he possibly....? Gathering enough courage, she opened her eyes half-expecting that the voice was only an illusion conjured up by her own delirious mind. Not only was her body weakened, now it seems as though the exhaustion had gone to her brain as well.
She lifted her head from the grass and looked. And she blinked. She was met with the sight of a familiar fanged smirk along with those penetrating amber eyes and fiery hair. The owner of those amber eyes returned her gaze as he looked back at her with unmistakable recognition, anger and... concern. Meeting with his eyes, she instantly knew. She knew that this man whom she had been pleading for was really standing there before her. He was not an illusion as she had initially thought. No illusion can be so real.
Tasuki glared angrily at the men surrounding Kayla. He had arrived just in time to see some fat bastard slapped Kayla across the face. Although he had been too far to hear what they had been saying, no words were needed in order to know what was going on. They were hurting Kayla and that fact alone was enough reason for him to teach these men a fatal lesson: no one hurts Tasuki's friends without getting fatally burned.
"Let him go now and I might consider letting you live" Tasuki growled threateningly as he clenched his fist tightly.
The men who had gotten over the shock of a man appearing before them out of nowhere, just laughed at his threat. "Or you'll do what?" mocked the fat man who had slapped Kayla before. "There's only one of you and practically ten of us, you're outnumbered!"
Tasuki smirked at the man's ignorance and got into a battle stance. These men were clueless as to what he was capable of. "Wrong answer" he simply stated, he was going to going to have a little fun with these bastards and make them pay dearly.
The fat man sneered at his statement. "We'll see about that". Then he turned to his men, "Get rid of him" he ordered and his men obeyed immediately. All the men attacked Tasuki all at once, all of which Tasuki fought back against on his own. It was an unfair battle, although knowing 'which' side that was at the disadvantage was questionable.
He's toying with them Kayla realized as she watched Tasuki fought the men. He may be outnumbered, but Tasuki was a skilled fighter along with his speed and agility. Compared to him, these men may as well be clumsy, overweighed pigs attempting to fight. Yet Tasuki took his time, blocking a series of attacks and giving out a few of his own, He hadn't even bothered to use his Tessan which could have defeated the men in mere seconds.
Not wanting to waste her chance, she quickly looked around trying to find something that could help loosen the bounds on her hands. A glint caught her attention. A dagger! Most likely dropped by one of the men while fighting Tasuki. Awkwardly, she crawled towards it ignoring the protest of her body. Just a bit closer.... Got it! She thought triumphantly as she felt her fingers touched the cool blade of the dagger.
Clumsily she took the dagger in her hand and proceeded in cutting the ropes. It was harder then she had thought as she accidentally cut herself a little with the sharp blade. Kayla winced a little but focused on cutting the bounds, ignoring the slight burning pain on her wrist. She had to get free, she couldn't count on Tasuki to keep all the men distracted for long before they remember her again.
Come on, come on..... she urged silently as she worked through the ropes.
Finally after for what seemed to be an eternity, she succeeded and instantly felt the sudden loosening of her bounds. She quickly got rid of the rest of the ropes and sat up, thoroughly relieved to have her hands free. She took the cloth that had been tied to her mouth and inhaled the sweet fresh air deeply.
"Lekkha Shinen!" the familiar incantation interrupted Kayla's brief moment of bliss and she turned to the direction of the fiery-haired Seishi. She wished she hadn't looked. Apparently Tasuki was fed up with the men and decided to use his secret weapon to finish the job. His Tessan. Now, almost half of the men had been consumed by the intensive flames, leaving them lying on the ground with terrible burns. It was a brutal scene and Kayla closed her eyes to block out the images of the gravely wounded men before her. Despite what these men had done to her, they had only been following orders from her uncle.
The other half of the men who had been more fortunate, (only receiving some partial burns from Tasuki's Tessan) had now all fled the scene with their clothes still on fire and screaming in fear, knowing they cannot beat such power.
Kayla let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. It's finally over she thought as relief flooded over her whole body. She tiredly began to make her way towards Tasuki, completely unaware of the presence stalking behind her until it was too late.
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Tasuki smirked as he watched the men fled like cowards. That should teach them not to mess with others especially a Suzaku Seishi. He turned to Kayla intended to untie his bounds and then to yell at him for wandering off in the first place. To his shock, he found Kayla standing a few feet before him with a look of shock and horror that mirrored his own.
No.... no....! That one word continued to echo in his mind as he watched in alarm as Kayla stood there being held in a tight neck lock by no other than that fat bastard from before. What made his blood ran cold was the sight of the deadly dagger being held threateningly against Kayla's throat!
Tasuki cursed himself, how can he be so foolish?! He should have kept watch at Kayla instead of focusing all his attention on beating the crap out of those men. Now because of his mistake, his friend might end up suffering the consequences of it! Damn!!
Kayla cursed herself, how can she be so careless?! She had been so distracted that she had forgotten about her uncle, assuming that he had ran away with the other men. Her uncle had taken advantage of her moment of distraction and stole the dagger she had been using before and turned it against her. She looked back at Tasuki as a feeling of dread overcame her senses. She watched as Tasuki's eyes glared angrily in their direction, the Tessan clenched so tightly in his grip causing his knuckles to go white.
"Don't come any closer, unless you want to test just how sharp this dagger could be" her uncle hissed warningly as he began to back away from Tasuki while dragging Kayla along with him.
Tasuki, unwilling to lose sight of them, followed them but at the same time kept a safe distance away so he wouldn't cause the man to panic and hurt Kayla with that dagger. He tried to come up with a solution to get Kayla out of this mess but found himself drawing a blank.
Kayla found herself being half-dragged and half-walking as she was being taken by her uncle. She almost tripped when her uncle abruptly stopped, feeling his whole body tensed. Kayla turned a little to see what had caused her uncle to stop and almost cried out in fear.
Apparently they had reached a dead end where a cliff was only a few steps away from where they stood.
She tear her gaze away from the bottomless cliff and back to Tasuki who stood only a few feet away from them. The moment was so tense and the air was so thick that Kayla found it hard to breathe.
"Let go of Kayla now, and you can go free" Tasuki said slowly as he made his way closer towards them. Unfortunately the man refused to be co-operative.
"Stay where you are! It's all your fault! You ruined my plans!" The man cried angrily directing his blame on Tasuki. He was clearly losing control now as fury took over. Never had Tasuki seen a man so angry. This fact made him even more nervous. This man was unstable, any wrong move can cause him to lose control and take his anger out on Kayla by slitting his throat!
"What do you want?!" Tasuki demanded barely able to control himself, trying to at least stall for time.
There must be a way out of this! There must.....
Suddenly the man laughed! It was an unpleasant laugh, one filled with pure insanity that made both Kayla and Tasuki's skin crawled. "I won't let any of you win! Not while I'm still around" her uncle hissed viciously, his eyes were no longer focused nor sane for any normal person.
Kayla's fear rose as she listened to her uncle's words. She knew her uncle had never liked her and had even enjoyed tormenting her. However she could never imagine nor understand why her uncle could hate her with such intensity. Why?! Why me?! What had I ever done to him to cause him to hate me this much?! She realized that her uncle was clearly no longer in full control with himself for he was never really mentally stable to begin with. This defeat caused by her and Tasuki had marked a limit to his mental conditions. He was a man who took pleasure in the pain of others (specifically hers). Truly twisted, dangerous...... and sad.
"Goodbye 'dear niece'" her uncle hissed quietly into her ear. Final words. Before she could even acknowledge what these words meant, she felt a strong push from her uncle throwing her off the cliff and the sensation of falling down the endless cliff overwhelmed her senses. A scream she barely recognized as her own erupted from her throat. Dear Suzaku! I'm going to die! It was all happening so fast that she couldn't even hear the panic crying of her name from the fiery-haired Seishi.
All of a sudden, someone grabbed hold of her hand, stopping her abruptly from falling any further. She tried not to look down at her feet which were now dangling in midair reminding her that she was still hanging by a thread from sudden death. Startled by the fact that she had once again cheated death (at least for the moment), she looked up at her saviour. Tasuki?!
Tasuki cursed with every swear word known to man as he held tightly to Kayla's hand with one hand and the tree branch with his other. His heart was pounding furiously and the adrenaline pumping mercilessly throughout his body.
When that man had pushed Kayla down the deadly cliff, he had jumped down after the boy attempting to save him. It was a reckless and stupid thing to do, but he had no time to think. He just forgotten everything and just reacted. They had almost fell halfway down before he caught hold of Kayla's hand in midair and grabbed the nearest lifeline that happened to be a branch hanging off the cliff. They were now suspended by the cliff's jagged side in the air with only a tree branch preventing them from falling into an early grave. Definitely not a good position to be in.
He looked down at Kayla who looked back with a mixed expression of relief, fear and mostly of shock, practically speechless at the daring stunt he had pulled. Dammit now what?! We can't hang like this forever! Maybe we can climb...
'CRACK!!'......... Kuso!!
Kayla eyes widen in fear as she heard the branch cracked a little. However this time, she didn't only fear for her life, she feared more for Tasuki's life. The man was endangering his own life now thanks to her. The tree branch would not hold both of their weight for long. They would both fall if she doesn't do anything about it! It took only a split second for her to consider her next decision.
"Tasuki, let go!" she cried up to him.
It was a simple command. It was her decision. She couldn't let him die because of her. He still had his destiny as a Seishi to fulfill while she, herself was expendable. She wasn't worth the risk.
However the fiery Seishi did not agree.
"WHAT?!?!" Tasuki cried, his eyes clearly expressing the shock and bewilderment at her words.
"We'll both fall if you don't let go of me!" she yelled urgently wanting him to understand her view, as she tried to pry her hand from his hold.
Acknowledging her attempt to loosen his hold, Tasuki's grip held firm if not stronger. "No!" was his answer with unwavering determination.
"Don't you understand you baka!" she shouted frustrated and desperately. "You have to survive; you're needed in your destiny! I'm not worth_"
"Shut up Kayla!!" Tasuki shouted angrily, fire burning intensively in his amber eyes. "Don't you dare play damn sacrifice on me now at a time like this! If you think that I'm going to let you fall just so I can save myself then you are f*cking wrong! There is no f*cking way I'm letting go!"
Kayla was once again at lost for words at what Tasuki had so bluntly emphasized to her. The results having the same effect as a slap in the face. She looked up at his face with a mixed expression of shock and awe. Never had she seen him so angry and determined before.
She couldn't help the odd slight feeling of courage building within her, penetrating through her fears just by looking into those eyes of his. Somehow that feeling gave her a slight sense of comfort in believing that in some way or another, they would get out of this alive despite the grave and seemingly hopeless situation they're in now.
'SNAP!!'
Kayla never had a chance to respond verbally as the branch finally snapped under their weight causing her and Tasuki to fall once again down towards the advancing ground below.
Thinking quickly as they fell, Tasuki caught hold of Kayla's falling form in his arms, covering the boy's body with his own. It was a mere attempt to soften the boy's fall but it seemed hopeless given the quick velocity they're falling at with nothing to slow them down.
They continued to plunge down the jagged cliff and unknowingly down into the forest below them.
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The shooting pain throughout her body especially her right leg was the first sensation she had felt when she had woken up. To say the least, it had not been a well feeling to wake up to. Since her body protest 'any' large movement of 'any' of her muscles, this left her lying on her back staring blankly at the trees above her.
Trees? When did I end up in the forest? Kami-sama! My body feels so sore! I felt like I've just fell down a cliff and hit every single jagged edge with my body..... oh wait..... I did fell down a cliff!!...... Does that mean I'm dead? She scratched that last thought. If she had really did died, she doubted the afterlife could involve this much physical pain. So that means that she had somehow miraculously survived the fall.
Given her current situation of pain, she was wondering if that was really a 'good' thing.
How long have I've been unconscious? She wondered as the sun's early rays brought soothing warmth to her face. Despite the terrible aches and pains she was feeling, she supposed that she could at least be grateful to be alive to see another light of day. If she had survived, then does that mean......
Dear Suzaku! Tasuki!! The realization had hit her like a splash of cold water in the face and she mentally berated herself for not realizing it sooner. She unwisely shot up from her lying position, instantly crying out in pain as her body protested violently for her abrupt actions. However she looked around frantically for the fiery-haired man praying that he wasn't fatally injured or..... dead. If anything ever happens to him, I'll never forgive myself. Please Suzaku, let him be alright!
Her prayer had been answered as she caught sight of a familiar figure lying unconsciously on the ground behind where she sat only a few feet away. Ignoring her body's warning, she stood up instantly, only to fall back down clutching her right ankle in pain. She gently prodded her ankle and found it to be swollen and hurting immensely at her own touch.
"Just great" she muttered. She must have injured her leg during the fall. She couldn't tell whether her ankle was sprained.... or broken. Neither case seemed favourable to her.
First thing's first, I have to see if Tasuki's okay She slowly stood up and proceeded towards Tasuki, trying to put as least pressure on her injured foot as possible. But before she could even take two steps, she collapsed back down unable to stand the pain any longer. It was no use, she can't walk. Not like this.
Gritting her teeth against the pain, she did the next best thing. She dragged her body forward towards Tasuki with the use of her hands.
What were really a few feet had seemed like a couple of miles to Kayla as she finally reached Tasuki. Like her when she had woken up, he was also lying on his back. There were numerous faint scratches on his hands and face, but only minor ones that would heal in time. She noticed some dried blood on the side of his head. That worried her and could only hope it would only be minor head wound.
She gently shook him on the shoulders attempting to wake him up. Even though she had found no major bleeding wound, she couldn't be sure if he had broken or sprained anything like she did. "Tasuki? Tasuki? Come on wake up!" she urged.
He didn't wake.
Kayla began to panic and quickly lower her head against his chest and listened. She allowed herself the luxury of letting a sigh of relief when she heard the steady beating of his heart. Thank Suzaku he's alive, but why isn't he waking up? Kayla frowned as she continued to try to wake him. She continued on like this, each passing moment causing her fear to raise a notch. He still wouldn't wake; this was not a good sign.
"Dammit Tasuki! Wake up!" She yelled angrily if not desperately. What if that wound on his head was even more serious then I had thought?! She didn't like where her thoughts were going. She had heard of stories in her life of how some people after serious injuries on the head had rendered them unconscious for long periods of time ranging from few days to weeks, months or even for the rest of their remaining lives! The thought made her blood ran cold.
What if Tasuki never wakes up like those people? It would be like he was dead but only living..... and it would be all her fault. My fault she thought guiltily as she remembered how he tried to shield her with his body when they had fell. She would never forgive herself if this happens to him. Having him to never wake up to see another day, never waking from his endless sleep. What kind of life is that?!
"Dammit Tasuki! You baka! Why didn't you let go of me when you had the chance?!" She yelled angrily as she felt the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She shook her head fiercely. No! She can't give up hope now and assumed the worst when she was still uncertain. She 'will' wake him up even if she had to slap him hard numerous times to do it!
No longer caring about being gentle or not, she began shaking him excessively, shouting at him and even using threats if he doesn't wake up soon. She didn't even notice the tears rolling down her cheeks. Despite her determination, she was beginning to lose hope of ever waking him up.
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Tasuki had been quite comfortable staying in the dark; however that constant persuasive nagging in the back of his subconscious had prevented him from relaxing and just letting go. It refused to let him go. It kept reminding him that he was forgetting something important and if he doesn't come back, he'll regret it. So he did the only thing he could do in order to stop that irritating nagging feeling. He woke up.....
Only to find himself being shaken mercilessly with pain shooting up his entire body and the sound of Kayla's voice yelling at him to wake up.
"Dammit... Kuso... Kayla stop.... shaking.... me!!" he managed to utter in between the boy's shaking out of annoyance. The sound of his voice had definitely caught Kayla's attention as he immediately stopped shaking him so roughly and let go of his shoulders with a loud gasp of surprise.
Tasuki opened his eyes with a groan and found a pair of tearful amber eyes gazing back at his own. Tears? "Kayla?" he mumbled feeling slightly relieved that the boy was okay. He carefully sat up and winced as he felt a throbbing pain from his right shoulder. He must have injured it during the fall, at least it wasn't broken. He checked the rest of his body carefully shifting his limbs. Nothing seemed broken except for a few scratches here and there but nothing too serious fortunately. Nevertheless he was surprised that they had survived a fall like that.
He looked up at the trees standing high above them. Those trees must have been what broke our fall he realized as he turned back to Kayla. The boy had not spoken one word since he had stopped shaking him and Tasuki found himself vaguely wondering if something was wrong with him.
"T.... Tasuki? You're awake?" Kayla managed to utter while staring at him in disbelief.
Tasuki couldn't help but smirk at his comment. "No, that fall had caused you to hallucinate, you're actually talking to an illusion right now" He replied sarcastically. Unexpectedly, Kayla didn't respond to his sarcasm as he would expect. "Kayla?" he asked uneasily, his sarcasm had disappeared as he looked at the boy. Kayla had turned away refusing to face him. He could only imagine what thoughts were running through his head now.
"Why didn't you let go?" The question was spoken so softly that Tasuki had almost missed it.
"What?"
"Why didn't you let go when we were hanging on that cliff?" Kayla repeated, still refusing to face him.
His voice was almost sad yet demanding. "Didn't you know that you could have been killed?!"
Tasuki only stared back in puzzlement. "Is that a way to talk to someone who had just saved your life?" he asked half-mockingly and half-seriously.
Unfortunately he only succeeded in making Kayla more agitated. "Are you a baka?! Didn't you hear what I said?! I said that you could have been killed!! You should have let go of my hand when you had the chance!!" he yelled.
Tasuki looked at Kayla with shock but then anger began to consume him as well in the boy's stupidity. "Dammit Kayla! We've been through this already! There was no way in hell I was going to let go!"
But Kayla only shook his head fiercely at his remark. "But I'm not worth it! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you died because of me!" he shouted back angrily. Despite his bitter tone, Tasuki could tell that Kayla was not really angry at him but only angry with himself.
Tasuki could feel himself losing his temper. "You're so damn f*cking stubborn Kayla!" he yelled grabbing the boy's shoulder and forcing him to look at him face to face. He was met the sight of Kayla's tear stained face looking back at him pitifully.
Poor Tasuki was torn between wanting to console him and wanting to shake the boy senseless until he get the message across to the damn boy's head as strange as it had sound. He swore that Kayla was sometimes just TOO damn stubborn for his own good. Even more stubborn then he was. "Do you think I'll be able to live with myself if I let you fall?! Would you have let me go if you were in my position?! Tell me that!!" Tasuki continued forcing his voice to stay firm.
Kayla remained silent. She looked up at Tasuki unable to give a respond immediately to his question. She had never really considered it that way before. Even though it was such simple logic, she found herself having trouble registering it.
She shifted uncomfortably under Tasuki's gaze. She wanted to say anything that would tell Tasuki that he had been wrong. She wanted to tell him that she would have let go if she had been in his position.
But dear Suzauki! That fierceness in his eye forbids her lie. His gaze wasn't intrusive, but the gaze was so intensive that she swore she could feel the heat radiating from it. It was a gaze that she couldn't lie to even if she had tried. Finally she hung her head dejectedly, "No.... I wouldn't have let go... but_"
"No buts Kayla!" he interrupted firmly. "I'm here, you're here, I didn't let go and we both had managed to survive that f*cking fall so stop ya complaining already will ya!"
Kayla hesitated slightly before giving a slight nod at his request. "For a moment I thought...." she paused.
"Thought what?" Tasuki questioned wondering what else in the world was bothering the boy.
For a moment, I thought you weren't going to wake up... and it had scared me but Kayla shook her head at the thought. "Never mind" she answered solemnly. She directed her attention elsewhere ignoring the puzzle look from Tasuki. "So where are we now?" she asked changing the subject entirely.
Tasuki looked around as well. Good question. "Who knows" he answered "We're in the middle of nowhere in this forest but I guess we're now further south"
"So what are we going to do?"
"We might as well walk for awhile and see if there is some people nearby that could give us some directions and also maybe a place to rest before we move on. We're not going back to 'that' village we were at before that's for certain." he decided after thinking for awhile.
Kayla involuntarily shuddered at the thought of going back to that place, the place where this whole incident had started. She had to agree with Tasuki, she did NOT want to go back there.
"What are you still sitting there for? Come on already, we're wasting time" Tasuki urged as he slowly stood up ignoring the pain on his shoulder.
Kayla proceeded to follow his suit and was instantly reminded of her difficulty as the pain once again shot out from her right foot. The pain was so abrupt and so unexpected, that it caused her to whimper slightly at the pain. Hearing her, Tasuki immediately bend down and gently prodded her ankle as she had done before and carefully shifted her ankle a little to test it.
"Ow! Watch it Tasuki!" Kayla cried in pain even though he had moved her ankle only an inch.
Tasuki frowned. "Be glad it's only a sprain, a pretty bad one but at least it isn't broken"
Kayla looked at her ankle gravely, if she couldn't walk, how was she going to travel? She looked at Tasuki wondering if he had any ideas. The Seishi looked as if he was considering something before unexpectedly, he bend down with his back facing towards her. "Hop on" he said casually.
Kayla stared at him blankly (or at least staring at his back) "Ummm... What are you doing?" she asked, unable to comprehend his intentions.
Tasuki turned, giving her a look of exasperation "What does it look like? I'm going to carry you on my back" he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Again, Kayla stared at him, this time it was out of pure shock. "What?! Oh no no no no....." she objected, shaking her head in emphasis. "I don't need anyone to carry me, I'll walk, I can walk, see?" She tried to demonstrate by trying to stand up again but of course, she failed immensely.
Tasuki regarded her actions with mild amusement. "And just what is wrong with me carrying you on my back?" he asked.
"It's just...." Kayla found herself unable to come up with a reasonable explanation. "Can't I just use a walking stick instead" she suggested weakly.
Tasuki shook his head "You can't put any more pressure on that foot, it will only make it worst. Besides, I don't see why you're being so damn overactive with all this, Nuriko carried you once and you were okay with it."
"B... but that was different!"
"How so?"
Kayla opened her mouth to reply but then closed it, unable to give a suitable answer. Her heart was beating furiously for reasons unknown. All she knew was that she really, REALLY did not want Tasuki to carry her. Carrying means contact, contact means closeness, and closeness with Tasuki equals trouble waiting to happen. It was a simple equation. Kami-sama! Please tell me this is NOT happening!!
Tasuki sighed. He really couldn't understand the boy. Kayla was being damn difficult for NO particular reason at all and they were just wasting time here. "You have two choices Kayla. You either let me carry you on my back or I'll just haul you over my shoulder against your will. Either way I'm carrying you" he stated, his lips curled into an amused grin as he watched Kayla's reaction.
Kayla glared irately at the once again annoying baka. He had definitely not given her much of a choice, which had only irritated her more. She hated the fact of how he always seemed to make life more difficult for her then it already was without so much as trying.
"I thought so" Tasuki replied with a smirk taking her silence as an answer. He turned around once more with his back facing her like before. "Come on, I'm not going to drop you. Damn, we're just wasting more time here, just get on".
Kayla swallowed.
She carefully placed her arms around his neck and awkwardly shifted some of her weight onto his back.
When she was ready, he lifted her up effortlessly and proceeded in walking, never slowing down his pace. It was as if her weight had not affected his speed at all. She wondered vaguely if that was normal but then again, he wasn't exactly normal like other people.
They continued to walk (or rather, Tasuki walked) in silence, neither one saying a word. Kayla busied herself with watching the passing scenery trying to distract herself with fact of how close their bodes were or how she was close enough to rest her head on his shoulders comfortably if she was tired or how she was close enough to..... She instantly stopped her train of thoughts from going any further.
Kayla!! What are you thinking?! This is Tasuki for god's sake!!! You know! The same annoying baka who constantly fights with you, constantly driving you up the wall with his ego the size of Hokkan!! She reminded herself desperately.
Why are you thinking about how much you like him being this close to you?! He thinks you're a guy!! These are bad thoughts Kayla! Think of healthy thoughts, not bad thoughts! Think healthy, not bad! Healthy thoughts, bad thoughts, healthy, bad, healthy, bad, bad, healthy, healthy, bad, bad, bad,...... GAHHH!!!! Kayla continued to berate herself senselessly, quite sure that she was clearly on the brink of insanity. THIS DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!!!! THIS_
"Will you stop shifting so much, it's getting harder to carry you"
Kayla started violently at the sudden intrusion of his voice. She realized that her face was blushing furiously and could only be glad that he could not see her face. She immediately stopped shifting as he had requested. She hadn't even realized that she had been moving so much due to her less then decent thoughts focused mainly the man carrying her. She was about to retort back at the man out of sheer annoyance when she caught the side view expression on his face.
From her position, she could make out the tense look on his face... as if he was sort of struggling. The expression wasn't very noticeable since he seemed much focused in his task in carrying her and walking. She would have missed his tense visage completely if she weren't close enough to notice it. For some reason, Tasuki seemed to be struggling a little as if her weight was hurting him. Maybe he wasn't as strong as he had initially demonstrated before. "Are you alright Tasuki?" she asked softly, concern etching at the edge of her voice.
Tasuki didn't respond for a moment. Although normally he could carry Kayla with ease, and yet that damn pain on his shoulder was causing him more trouble then he had expected. But he wasn't about to let Kayla know about that. "I'm fine" he answered, though his voice was a little strained.
Kayla wasn't convinced with his answer. What was wrong? She couldn't understand what could be causing this much pain for him.... Then she looked down at her right hand that was currently on his right shoulder. Curiously she had felt a faint dampness on his shoulder. She lifted her hand away from his shoulder and looked. She gasped in horror when she found a faint stain on his shoulder where her hand had been. It was slowly seeping into his dark blue outer coat. Blood....
Dear Suzaku!!! She looked at her hand that had been on his right shoulder before. Surely enough, she found a faint red blood stain on her palm that had came from his wound. She had been wrong when she had initially thought that he had not received any serious wounds from that fall. Not only had he injured his shoulder, but he was making it worst by straining it in order to carry her causing it to bleed now. Why? Why didn't he say anything about it?! He must have known about it, he must have at least felt it!!!
"Tasuki! You're shoulder is bleeding!! You can't keep carrying me like this" she cried to him, hoping he would immediately set her down on the ground before he did any more damage to himself. To her amazement (and bit of exasperation) he chose to refuse her again.
"No, it's nothing that I can't handle" Tasuki answered as he continued to walk never showing any indication of slowing down or letting her go.
"WHAT?! Are you insane?! This is NOT nothing!! You're making it worst for your shoulder just by carrying me!! PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!!" she protested as she began to struggle feeling very tempted to start beating his back in order to persuade him to let her go. However she restrained herself from doing because she didn't want to inflict any further more damage on his shoulder wound. Damn him! Why does he have to be so close-minded?! I want to hurt him for being so stupid but I can't hit him or else I'll hurt him even more then he already is!!..... ARRG!!!! NOW I'M EVEN
CONTRADICTING MYSELF!!
"Stop moving already!!" Tasuki ordered stiffly as he kept walking. His voice was filled with barely contained annoyance. "Damn!! How the hell are you suppose to move with that sprained ankle of yours if I put you down? You're just going to slow us down if I let you walk, not that you 'can' walk anyway!! We can't afford to waste anymore time and it's just faster if I carry you, so stop complaining already!!"
"But you're shoulder_"
"Is fine! It's not really as bad as it look" Tasuki finished off firmly. He shifted the boy's weight a little to take the strain off his shoulder.
Kayla bit her lip in frustration. Tasuki was being unreasonable, just what was he trying to prove?! He
may be a Seishi but that doesn't mean he isn't human! He could only push himself so far before he would either collapse from exhaustion or from complete blood lost. Unfortunately, no matter how much she had tried to struggle, Tasuki held firm showing no indication that he was going to stop and drop her on the floor as she had hoped he would.
Kayla stopped her futile struggle and sagged defeated against his back. There was just no arguing with him when his mind was so obviously set. She wondered vaguely if this man's stubbornness had already defied all customary rules of human nature. Honestly, who else can be so stubborn, so stupid, so unreasonable, so thick-headed, so..... the list can go on and on.
Stupid baka! Tasuki no baka!! You're a stubborn pain in the ass!! You're unreasonable and pigheaded!! Damn you! Why can't you just listen to me?! Why are you always being annoying as hell?!?! She sighed as she absently slowly laid her head on his shoulder suddenly feeling very weary. Why do you have be so nice to me?...... she asked sadly to herself. There was no answer, yet this last question strayed in her mind longer then all the other questions from before.
As much as she had protested against his judgment, she wasn't blind. She knew deep down within herself that other then his stubbornness and pride, Tasuki was doing this for her well being. He had refused to let her walk on her own because he didn't want her to strain her ankle further. But damn that man!! She didn't want him to further hurt himself just because of her own inability to walk due to her stupid sprained ankle!
First he had already saved her from her uncle. He had constantly tried to protect her, even going as far as risking his own life in order to keep her from serious harm when they had fell. Even with all the constant and endless bickering they kept having, he still chose to help her. That alone, had already made her eternally grateful for him.... and perhaps forever in his debt.
He had already done so much for her. He was her friend.... yet there was something else....
Kayla frowned again as an indescribable feeling slowly dawned upon her. She knew the feeling was not only simple gratitude but more of affection... but not quite.
The feeling had always been there ever since those first few days she had stayed in the stronghold with Tasuki. But it had been nothing different then just friendship like the affections she had for Kouji or Toushi. However, the feeling now was stronger and more directed specifically to Tasuki. It was something deeper and unlike anything she had really felt before and it confused her. It confused and scared her all at once because she was unsure in what this new development could mean for her.
Scared that if she found out what this new surging emotion could be.... it would change everything....
So she didn't want to know. Didn't want to think about it. She REFUSED to think about it, and pushed this new emotion to the hidden chambers of her heart.
Unfortunately, the feeling seemed to have a life of its own and refused to keep hidden. Random memories flickered through her mind, all of which consisted of her and him. How they had met, how they had bickered, how they had fought, how they had made truce that had led to companionship, to friendship, to something like sibling affections, to..... this..... whatever 'this' could be.
She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to make sense of all the turmoil of emotions and thoughts swirling within her. Against her better judgment she didn't even bother to lift her head from Tasuki's shoulder. She was feeling so drained that for some reason, she was just satisfied to just stay like that even for just a moment and listen to the gentle wind passing through the leaves as they traveled by.
It just doesn't make sense..... I don't understand this..... What's happening to me Tasuki?
It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.
Tasuki felt Kayla's body finally relaxed after a few moment of silence between them. He knew instantly that the boy had fallen asleep as he felt his head on his shoulder (his uninjured one). He didn't mind that since it had made things much easier for him. If having Kayla falling asleep can stop him from struggling anymore, he wasn't going to complain.
He stopped and surveyed their surroundings. He was relieved when he saw a worn path, most likely made by many travelers passing by. His hope rose. If he followed the trail, most likely he'll reach some village and meet some people who might be able to help them.
He turned his head a little to check on Kayla. The boy was still fast asleep. Good, he'll need the rest.
For a moment, Tasuki just regarded Kayla's face as he slept. His face framed with the long bangs of his dark hair contrasting with his pale complexion. The rest of his messy braid was now hanging off on the side. He seemed so peaceful now with his expression devoid of the any stress and worries that he so often seen on the boy's face when he was awake.
Tasuki couldn't help but let a small grin formed on his face. The runt can be annoying as hell, but in times like these, he is worth the trouble... sometimes. He chuckled softly, shaking his head. Why the hell did I think that? Must have hit my head harder then I thought he thought amusedly.
He tore his gaze away from Kayla, inhaling deeply to clear his thoughts and preceded towards the worn path. However he paused for moment as he noticed something peculiar. It wasn't really significant but it surprised him just the same.
He breathe in deeply again to make sure. Yes, it was still there, he had not imagined it.
Sweet spring blossom scent. The same scent that he had unintentionally experienced emitting from Kayla during the time when he had fell on top of the boy by accident in that dark cave. It had been a long time ago but now he was able to breathe in the same scent coming from Kayla again from being this close to the boy while he carried him. This was Kayla's scent.
He didn't know why the hell he would remember or notice it at a time like this. But it just came back
to him as a memory that would have been forgotten had he not notice it.
Realizing that his thoughts were going nowhere, he snapped out his trance and focused on the road ahead of him once more. Silently, he prayed to Suzaku that he'll find civilization soon before the sun sets.
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Author's Notes:
(Gemini and Cancer walked in with bandages and crutches and lots and lots of band-aids all over their body)
Gemini: Owow…. This is your entire fault Cancer!!
Cancer: Me?! You're the one who attacked me first!!
Gemini: I wouldn't have attacked you if you hadn't have been acting so weird in the first place or else I wouldn't have mistaken you for a fake happy-go-lucky clone or something!! (Grabs an ice pack for her bruising head and moans) Oooowwww my head!!!
Cancer: (sarcastic tone) Oh blame me for trying to be 'nice' to you, (starts to grin slyly) At least I beat you in the fight
Gemini: Hey! What are you talking about?! I beat you!!
Cancer: No way!! Look at you (points to Gemini's injuries accusingly) you're a bigger wreak then I am!!
Gemini: No, Look at you (points to Cancer's leg crutches she is currently using) You can't even walk properly!! I beat you!!
Cancer: Oh yeah (hits Gemini with her crutches) Take that!!
Gemini: (glares at Cancer) Why you little…. Take that! (Throws her ice pack at Cancer and hits her squarely on the forehead)
Cancer: ARRRG!!!! This means war!!!
(The two authors once again went out to an all-out battle of the strongest ummm…. Somewhat strongest given their current injuries)
(Readers grin)
Readers: Well looks like Round Two is up!! (starts in putting bets again)
We once again apologize for the delay of this chapter even though we assure you that THIS WAS NOT OUR INTENTIONS HONEST!! Please forgive us!! (Beg on our knees) We love all you wonderful, supportive readers out there and all the reviews you gave us. We hope that you enjoy this chapter which had a lot of Tasuki/Kayla interactions. Be sure to review to tell us what you think!! Many Thanks!! {^.~}