Disclaimers: Poor... No Money... Don't own Fushigi Yuugi... But we have Kayla... Yeah us!

Chapter 20: Realizations
If there was ever a moment in Miaka's life in which she felt an odd sense of déjà vu, it would be this instant as she stared speechlessly at her friend. A friend whom up until now was thought to be of the male orient.

Doesn't anyone dress according to their own gender in this world was the first thought that came to Miaka's mind. Actually that was not true. The first thing that went through Miaka's mind before that was: He got boobs!

You would think that after the past incidences that Miaka experienced with Nuriko and Hotohori, it would teach her a thing or two that things are not always what they seemed. Yet here she was, once again, standing there gaping at the 'boy turned girl'. And as much as the miko felt justified that she had the right to remain standing there pondering about the realities and truth of the universe, a small part of her mind remained stubbornly steadfast. A small part that also demanded that the girl took action and to say something instead of continuing to stand there like an idiot.

"K… Kayla…"

Recipient of the name responded to her words but said nothing, as if waiting for the miko to make the first move.

"You have…" Miaka's eyes darted quickly downwards before rising up back to her friend's face. "You have… cleavage."

Okay, so said demanding-small-part of her mind was not really the part that stimulates intelligent responses either. Probably because that specific part of my brain is still trying to get over the shock over here the girl thought ruefully.

Apparently her friend was thinking along the same thing judging the fact that Kayla was not laughing outright at her stupidity. If anything, her action of stating the obvious was enough to bring this surreal (and not to mention, very untimely) situation to a grounding halt.

Despite her obvious distress over being discovered of her long-guarded secret, Kayla decided that this was neither the time nor the place for discussions. Whether this was just her own excuse to stall the inevitable explanation she would be owing the miko or not did not matter. They would and could not stay at this risky place where more unexpected things was bound to happen the longer they stayed there. With her mind made up and one hand clutching the open folds of her shirt together, Kayla stepped towards her friend in a determined stride.

"I know I owe you an explanation for this Miaka," Kayla said as she placed her other hand on the other girl's arm to gain her attention but also as a silent gesture to bridge the growing gap between them. "And I will explain all this but not now. Right now we need to find Nuriko and get the hell out of here."

Miaka stared at the other boy… girl's face and the hand clutching her arm. The urgency in Kayla's voice was clear enough to bring the miko out of her own shock, but it was also the silent pleading and slight desperation in Kayla's eyes that prevented her from arguing back.

"No one else knows about you do they?" Despite her agreement of waiting for an explanation, Miaka felt compelled to at least ask a few questions to satisfy her burning curiosity. At least her brain had finally reconnected with her mouth again so that she was able to ask some more sensible questions.

Kayla shook her head sadly. "Only you and one other who knows my secret right now."

Miaka blinked. "Who is it? Tasuki?" It would only be logical given that Tasuki was the one who knew Kayla the longest.

"What? No! And you can't tell him about me being a girl. Or anyone else for that matter."

"What? But…"

"Please Miaka, I'm asking you as a friend, please keep this secret for me… at least for now." Kayla pleaded, hoping her friend would understand her need for secrecy.

"B… But why? Why all this secrecy Kayla?" Miaka was confused. Why would Kayla hide herself like this? Didn't she knew that she would have accepted her either way? Was she hiding something else from her as well?

Kayla suppressed a groan. They were going in circles with the girl's questions. Questions that needed long explanations. Long explanations that needed time. Time that they don't have. She blatantly wondered if they were doomed to remain in this deathtrap of a stronghold forever. "I will explain everything when we get back, but right now…"

"Finally, I found you two!"

The girls started when they turned to find the third party member of their group strolling towards them with an expression of mixed exasperation and relief. However, the expression on Nuriko's face faded and he paused mid-stride when he assessed the whole scene surrounding the two girls before pinpointing to a specific detail that he personally felt needed to be addressed immediately.

"What happened to your shirt?" Nuriko asked, eyeing the torn shirt clutched between Kayla's fingers with a critical eye.

If Kayla's mind weren't whirling from the sensation like the world was suddenly moving much too fast and leaving her behind at the same time, she would have had time to have been embarrassed at the fact that he had been staring rather intently at her chest (granted, in a non-perverted way but nevertheless…).

"Well umm… you see…" Kayla paused, unsure of how she was going to explain everything to Nuriko given the time budget that they were in. However, before she was able to sum up a few words to explain to the Seishi that her secret had been unexpectedly revealed to his miko, a blur sped past her. A blur that Kayla recognized belatedly as Miaka, who sped by her and practically tackled Nuriko and spun the surprised man around to face the other way.

Nuriko was caught off guard to say the least. One moment he had been studying Kayla and wondering why or how her shirt was opened (if he found it to be any other reason than it being purely accidental then Suzaku help him…), the next moment he was staring into a familiar pair of determined hazel eyes of his miko.

"It's not what you think Nuriko," Miaka spoke seemingly out of the blue, her tone unusually serious.

"It's not?" Nuriko asked dazedly, wondering what in the world she was talking about.

"Whatever you think you thought you saw. It isn't . So you can forget it. Don't even think about it because it isn't… isn't what you think you saw."

"What?" Nuriko could only utter in confusion, a bit overwhelmed by Miaka's sudden strange behavior. He tried to turn back around to look at Kayla and ask for her help but the miko's hands remained steadfastly on his shoulders preventing him from turning.

"Kayla is fine and whatever you thought you saw on himwas only a figment of your overactive imagination. So don't worry he is fine!"

By the Gods, the miko has gone mad! Maybe being captured by the Kaiori bandits had traumatized the poor girl. Nuriko could only pray that the damage was not going to be permanent. Suzaku knows that Tamahome was already worried enough as it is without knowing that his love as gone crazy as well. He grimaced at the thought. Tamahome was going to kill him… after he joined Tasuki in burning down the Kaiori bandit stronghold. He pried away the miko's hands from his shoulders and held them securely in his hands.

"What in the world is she talking about? Did she got hit in the head or something?" Nuriko asked worriedly turning to the other girl who had not said a word since he had been 'attacked' by the hysterical Miaka.

Unfortunately, Kayla could only watched speechlessly at the strange scene before her as Miaka tried unsuccessfully to get her hands out of the strong Seishi's grip and tried to get him to turn his head the other way. Nuriko, on the other hand, just looked more worried by the minute seemingly convinced that the Suzaku no miko had taken one too many blows to the head.

However, it wasn't long before Kayla realized what Miaka was trying to do. The miko had been trying to prevent Nuriko from discovering her secret, not knowing that the Seishi had already known beforehand. Despite the fact that the girl's efforts was fated to be done in vain, Kayla was touched. While Miaka's method may not have been the most inconspicuous, it was obvious the miko was willing and putting an effort in helping her keep her secret. The thought itself gave Kayla a small sense of peace of mind.

But still…

Kayla winced when Miaka tried once again to gain the attention of her Seishi by stomping on the poor man's foot. While Kayla appreciated Miaka's… efforts, it didn't seemed that the girl's 'methods' was going to maintain her secret for long. That thought made her finally realized that sooner or later, her secret was coming out whether she wanted it to or not.

And that thought filled her with dread.

"Do you think someone should try to calm them down?" Chiriko whispered worriedly turning to the oldest member and the monk in their group.

"I don't think that would be wise," answered Mitsukake.

"Why not? They might do something rash and get themselves in danger."

"I think what Mitsukake was saying Chiriko, is that he's more concerned about our own safety if we try to stick our necks out and try to intervene." Chichiri explained quietly, warily eyeing the two other men standing opposite of each other in the room. The monk had came back shortly after his task was done and was literally thrown off guard by the tense aura emanating in the once abandoned room. Yes, he knew that his friends including himself, were worried, but the aura that he was feeling was a bit - for lack of a better word - disturbing.

Tasuki clenched and unclenched his fists, his whole body tensed as he continued to pace rigidly in his own private corner. Despite the fact that he seemed too distracted to notice anything else, he was very well aware that his restless nature was stepping on his comrades' agitation. He just didn't really cared at the moment how much he was disturbing the others since he was too occupied with his own frustration to pay it much attention or thought.

How long had it been already? An hour? Two hours? Damn it! It felt like an eternity to him. It was times like these that the ill-tempered Seishi wished more than anything that he could go burn something with his Tessan, preferebly some Seiryuu lackey's butt. Or better yet, go get drunk on saké. To be honest, if he wasn't on that damn promise, he probably would have done so already to calm his restless state and agitation. Unfortunately, thanks to a certain boy, that was no longer an option for him.

And load and behold, just thinking about that stupid promise brought him back full circle to the core of his source of frustration. Kayla. Even though he was still worried for his miko and his other comrade, it was the younger boy that remained as a constant weight sitting in his mind… whether he wanted it to or not. Frankly, ever since he had walked out of that sorry-excuse of a stronghold, the whole situation had been driving him crazy with worry and making him rash… well morerash than usual.

Well enough was enough.

"That's it! I can't fucking stand this anymore! I'm going in there to get them!" To find him…

The reaction in the room was instantaneous.

"We can't be rash Tasuki, we…" Chichiri never had a chance to finish as Tasuki instantly turned to him, eyes blazing with frustration.

"I never said 'we' are going in there. I'm going in there myself even if I have to burn the whole place down!"

"But it's too dangerous to go in there yourself." Chiriko protested, his eyes wide, shocked in seeing the usual wise-cracking Seishi so enraged.

Realizing that he was scaring the youngest Seishi, Tasuki fought to reign in his anger. When he spoke again, his voice was relatively calmer though the tension was still there. "This whole idea was dangerous in the first place. Sending just two members of the group into a whole stronghold full of ruthless bandits is dangerous but we let them go in there anyway."

"You forget that they are two capable individuals who can take care of themselves with or without powers and they're undercover," Chichiri said reasonably.

Tasuki was unconvinced. "But against a whole bunch of Kaiori bandits? We don't even know what plan Kayla and Nuriko has against all those damn bastards!"

"Sedative."

Surprised, everyone turned to the quiet Seishi who had spoken.

"What was that Mitsukake?" Chiriko asked.

"Sedative," Mitsukake answered calmly, though it would be foolish to think he was unaffected by the tension radiating in the room. "Nuriko had asked me for some just before they've left. He was planning to drug the whole group in order to give themselves a chance to escaped with Miaka without complications."

"Without complications? We can't guarantee that there would be no fuckin' complications! Anything can happen in there!" Tasuki exclaimed irritatingly.

"They would have signaled us with the flare if anything were to happen," Chiriko reasoned.

"Unless they're in a position where they couldn't signal us."

Everyone turned to the remaining Seishi who had remained silent all this time until now.

Tamahome looked at each of them, his blue-green eyes hard. "Tasuki's right. They could be in danger now and I for one, am going in there with him."

Despite the fact that the man was supporting his plan to intervene. Tasuki was not looking forward with the idea of having company. As leader of the Leikaku bandits, he felt as if he had a personal score to settle with their long-time rival. Whether this was a petty reason or not, he didn't really cared. "No way! I don't need your hel…"

"That was not a request!" Tamhome rounded up to the other man effectively silencing him mid-rant. "I've waited by that window for two damn hours! Two! For the girl I love and our friends to show up here safe and sound. Frankly I can't sit here and wait anymore, it's driving me crazy! I don't know what your problem is Tasuki but if you think you can stop me from going in there and tearing that hellbound place apart, you can damn well answer to my fist!"

Silence fell upon the group as Mitsukake, Chichiri and Chiriko unconsciously held their breaths at the sight of the two Seishi faced off in a battle of wills. They stood so close together that they were practically breathing into each other's faces. Both men stood there for a long time, neither seemed willing to relent until finally (and surprisingly) the fiery Seishi backed away slowly.

"You come with me, you better be sure that you keep up with me," Tasuki warned, a smirk growing on his face though it contained very little humor.

Unfazed, Tamahome matched his comrade's expression. "Don't worry about me. Make sure you don't get in my way."

Another agreement was exchanged then. However while their first agreement concerning their private brawl had been made in a vow of silence, this one was made based on mutual understanding stemmed by the determination to make a stand to save the ones they cared for.

However, while these two men were in the midst of their new profound alliance, the other Suzaku members were worried. Despite that they have faith in the abilities of both Tasuki and Tamahome in a fight, to have them storming recklessly into a bandit stronghold with only a minimal idea of the current status of their friends was probably not the most foolproof of plans. Probably bordering on insane and foolhardy if they were honest.

But these two are too stubborn to accept that now Chichiri though resignedly as his thoughts were mirrored on both of Mitsukake and Chiriko's expressions. They have no choice. They would have to follow Tasuki and Tamahome's plan to save their friends if only to prevent any catastrophic events as a result of their relentless pursuing. They would need to come up with a quick plan though despite Tasuki and Tamahome's impatience. They were a team and if they were going to make this work, they would need to work together.

Chichiri silently sent a prayer up to Suzaku for luck, because nothing short of a miracle was going to dissuade these two stubborn, stubborn men from their goals especially when they decided to team up together like this.

Maybe Suzaku had taken pity on the young monk then or it was purely coincidental because it was at that moment the door to their little hideout flew open and Miaka, Nuriko and lastly Kayla strode in like a group of shivering misfits. Everybody stared at them in disbeliefs, eyes wide and jaws hanging, too shock to speak or even react.

Out of all three, Nuriko's appearance remained relatively unchanged as to when he first set out in their rescue mission. However the bitter cold had caught up with him as he continued shivering and shaking the snow from his clothes muttering something under his breath about how water and silk did not mixed.

Kayla looked a bit worse with his hair relatively mused from its style (though the flower blossom had managed to stay on… crooked) and a rather nasty bruise on his left cheek. Other than that, the boy looked unharmed and uncaring of his disheveled appearance. Although the odd thing that stuck out the most about the boy was his change in outfit. He was no longer wearing the pretty blue and yellow dress that he had left in but instead wore some unrecognizable beige and green top and pants that were too big on his small frame and clashes terribly with the boy's black and violet hair.

Miaka didn't look any better than the other two even though her clothes had remained the same (and intact with no apparent struggle much to Tamahome's profound relief). One of the signature buns that the girl's hair usually remained in had became undone, her green eyes were red and slightly swollen from crying too long and like Kayla, also sporting a nasty bruise on one of her cheeks. And if one was looking hard enough, you could see the beginnings of more bruising around the girl's neck (something that Tamahome was NOT happy about).

All three remained ignorant of the shock they have caused in the other members of their group until Nuriko started to notice how quiet it was. He turned to his fellow Seishi, only to find them staring back at them like a bunch of gaping idiots. He would have found it all amusing if he wasn't freezing his butt off in the first place. Nuriko snorted uncharacteristically. "Well what are you guys just standing there for? We're back, shouldn't you be celebrating or at least say hello?" he snapped irritatingly.

That seemed to break everyone out of their dazed-spell and their reactions were instantaneous and varied.

Miaka, who had been shivering miserably from the cold, suddenly found herself encompassed in a pair of warm, strong arms, her senses overwhelmed by an achingly familiar presence that nearly made her collapse with a sense of relief and joy.

"Tamahome," she whispered, her voice constricted with emotions. She returned the hug fiercely and buried her face into the man's chest, not trusting herself to not cry from the overwhelming emotions bubbling inside her. She thought she was never going to see him again, there was so much she wanted to tell him. To everyone. She wanted to tell them how sorry she was, how she had missed them all so terribly, how scared she was…

"Tamahome I…"

"Shhh… hush, it's alright Miaka, you don't have to say anything." Tamahome said soothingly, tightening his hold on his miko, all his initial stress and determination drained from his person leaving only a very tired man. A very tired but happy man who felt at that moment, that everything was right in the world again.

Kayla watched the happy reunited couple and a soft smile fell upon her lips. They had did it, they had all got out of that place with only a few minor scrapes, bruises and of course, a few mishaps (if you can call having her secret accidentally revealed to the miko a slight 'mishap'). However her feelings of content was short-lived and the smile faded from her lips when she noticed Tasuki making his way towards her in a determined stride, his piercing amber eyes never leaving her person.

It was all Kayla could do to prevent herself from stepping back from the man's intensive gaze and went into hiding behind Nuriko. Just facing him now brought back all kinds of mixed emotions and too-fresh memories of that particular event. All at once she was experiencing feelings of embarrassment, fear, confusion all hinted with a bit of anger. However, there was oddly even a sense of relief that clashed violently with all the other negative emotions within her at the sight of him.

When Tasuki reached within a foot of her, he said nothing at first. A frown graced his features while his eyes traveled from her head to toe and then back up again. Kayla felt her face heated up at the man's roaming eyes while her annoyance grew overshadowing her underlying nervousness. "What?" she demanded hotly. "You're acting like you never seen me before!"

Tasuki said nothing though his eyes had stopped its roaming but stared fixatedly into her own. "What happened to your clothes?" he asked suspiciously.

Kayla tensed and unconsciously fiddled with ends of her too-long foreign sleeves in a nervous habit. The excited chatter around them instantly grew silent as everyone else other than Tasuki grew curious about her little change in appearance. With her ruined dress no longer able to hide her secret anymore (what a paradox!), ever-so-resourceful Nuriko had randomly 'borrowed' a set of clothes from one of the bandits' wardrobe for her as a substitute. Knowing there was no way she could explain her change of clothes without revealing too much, Kayla found herself in a bind.

Damnit I knew it was too much to hope that they would be too relieved to see us without asking questions about my clothes Kayla thought grimly. She ignored the little voice in her head that insisted that she was hoping that a specific certain flamed-hair Seishi wouldn't have noticed. She had been so busy feeling relieved from getting out of the Kaiori stronghold that she hadn't taken the time to think of a reasonable explanation for her little change. Now because of her lack of hindsight, the situation had came back to bite her in the ass. Nice going Kayla…lets just see how you're going to get yourself out of this mess.

"Ummm…" Kayla stalled as she searched her mind for a convincing reason. "I couldn't wear those clothes anymore."

"And why the hell not?" Tasuki demanded.

None of your damn businesswas what Kayla wanted to shout at the meddlesome man's face but knew that it would only served to make the whole situation all the more suspicious if she was acting all defensive. "My clothes were accidentally… damaged." At least everything she was saying so far was true. Just in very vague details.

However unknown to Kayla, the poor girl did not know that her vague explanation only served to fuel the dreaded feelings of uncertainties that were already growing in the short-tempered Seishi mind. Just what the hell did he mean 'accidentally damaged' Why the hell is he so nervous over a simple fucking question? Tasuki thought frustratingly as he tried to figure out the boy's odd behavior. Then a terrible thought came to him and stopped him cold.

The ruined clothes, the nervous reaction, the bruises and rumpled appearance and Kayla's reluctant and vague explanation all pointed to one conclusion. It was all so obvious that Tasuki wanted to slap himself for not realizing it sooner. Being a bandit himself, he was all too aware what bandits will sometimes do to their prisoners especially the young ones. Though there were strict rules with the Leikaku bandits that all they ever steal were materialistic valuables like money and jewels, he knew that not all bandits were that virtuous. And it would only make sense for the Leikaku leader to jump to that conclusion.

If Tasuki was thinking rationally, he could have countered the reasoning behind that conclusion with these two perspective:

1. Kayla was a boy and therefore should be relatively safe from any ill-lustful intentions.

2. Kayla could defend himself relatively well from said ill-lustful intentions.

However one could also counter these rational perspective from another point-of-view.

1. Kayla being a boy does NOT save him from the fact that his disguise as a girl was enough encourage anyone foolish enough to act upon their ill-lustful intentions.

2. Not to mention that Tasuki's previous little stunt did very little to discourage any attempts made on the boy-turned-girl and carrying out their… ill-lustful intentions.

And most importantly…

3. Tasuki was never really one to think rationally especially when he is in a fit of rage to begin with.

Tightening his fists in an effort to reign in his temper and his protective instincts from going berserk, Tasuki could barely prevent himself from taking Kayla by the shoulders and shaking him senseless and demanding answers. Suzaku help me if Ifind out that those bastards did something to him…

"What do you mean… 'damaged'?" he asked, his voice rising a bit louder on the last word, his eyes never leaving the boy searching for anymore clues to the truth of what had happened to him.

Kayla bit her lip, not knowing how to answer the man's question without revealing that her clothes had been ruined from being ambushed by the leader. While that explanation was reasonable, it would have drawn too closely to the fact of how shaken she was from the incident that had almost resulted in her killing someone in cold blood and in Miaka finding out her secret. Suzaku knows that the last thing she wanted to do was to draw more attention to herself and to her closely guarded secret.

As selfish as it may seemed, it was self-preservation that prevented her from saying anything. There was just something about Tasuki's behaviour that was making her nervous and reluctant to reveal to him anything about the attack. Kayla didn't know what to make out of Tasuki's weird actions. Why was he so adamant on finding out in what happened to her clothes? She could tell that he was tense and angry for reasons she couldn't understand. Was he angry at her? If so, then why? If anything it should be her that should be angry with him. Did he suspected something? The thought filled her with dread. "I…" she struggled to find the words.

"Miaka, you're looking a little pale and that's a pretty nasty bruise on your face. Maybe we should all head back to the inn and get Mitsukake to look at that."

Everyone was startled to hear Nuriko interruption to Kayla's words… including the miko herself.

"I am? Ouch! I AM… Oh I think I'm feeling a little dizzy too…" Miaka said dramatically as she swayed a little on the side conveniently into Tamahome's embrace once again. While normally there was no way that anyone could be fooled by such a display, the Suzaku Seishi were unwilling to take any chances with their miko's wellbeing especially after almost losing her before.

"Nuriko's right. We should all head back to the inn right now. We will be safer there than out here at least." Tamahome said as he began leading his miko out the door. The other Suzaku Seishi soon followed compliantly knowing that the blue-haired Seishi was right and that they were all feeling tired after such a trying day. One by one, everyone left until all that was left was Nuriko, Kayla and Tasuki.

Nuriko turned to the two other individuals in the room. One seemed relatively confused at the sudden change in the situation while the other just seemed pissed that Nuriko had managed to interrupt his interrogation. Nuriko calmly smiled at them, ignoring the glare his comrade was sending him. "Well come on guys, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" With that he turned to follow the rest of group.

Snapped out of her daze, Kayla immediately followed the violet-haired Seishi footsteps, knowing that she once again owe her friend for saving her from another binding situation. If Nuriko had not taken the opportunity to draw everyone's attention away from her, she would still be standing there answering to Tasuki's endless interrogation.

Honestly, she didn't know how much longer she could have lasted under those scrutinizing fiery eyes.

As she walked closely behind Nuriko outside and into empty street of their temporary stronghold, Kayla could hear the telltale footsteps crunching in the snow closely behind her. Even without turning her head, she could still feel the burning gaze of the fiery Seishi boring into the back of her head. Kayla resisted the urge to shudder. A shudder that had nothing to do with the cold night air and the damp clothing on her back. It was then that she had another revelation.

Though Nuriko had managed to draw the attention away from her, he had only managed the stall the inevitable. Just like how she would be owing Miaka an explanation for her deception, she would eventually also have face Tasuki again. Too many things had happened over the course of few hours and it had caused a rift of tension to grow between them. But there were two problems:

1. She had no idea what was bothering the Leikaku bandit leader in the first place.

2. She had no clue as to how she was going to confront him.

And while Kayla was afraid of what this confrontation would mean for them, she valued Tasuki's friendship too much to just leave things the way they are between them whether she admitted it or not.

It's official. Someone up there hates me Kayla thought miserably. She wrapped her arms protectively around herself to ward off another shudder while she continued to follow Nuriko.

She had no way of knowing that the man walking behind her was echoing similar sentiments… only with a lot more cursing.

Kayla looked at herself in the mirror for what seemed to be the sixth time already, scrutinizing her appearance as she turned her face from one way to the other. Her eyes narrowed before she headed back towards the water basin on a nearby table and started to wash her face again. The hot water had already cooled to a lukewarm temperature but Kayla found the cooled water to be more refreshing on her skin. She and her friends had been back at the inn for a couple of hours now and after Mitsukake had discharged her as being relatively healthy enough minus few minor scrapes (though she had managed to hide the aching bruise that was sporting on her side from the healer), she was only too glad to retreat back to her room to clean herself up.

Though even after a quick private bath, changing back to her own clothes and fixing her hair back to its original plain long braid, she felt as if she could still feel the make-up on her face. Granted Nuriko hadn't placed a lot of it on her in the first place, being a girl who had never wore make-up in all of her life, it had felt foreign on her and suffocating. It had felt much too… exposing. Having on make-up felt like writing words on her face that were screaming out her secret for the whole world to read. So feeling paranoid, she was adamant in washing out every single speck that even suggested she was wearing the feminine product.

After drying her face again, she was startled when the door to the room suddenly opened. Didn't she locked the door? She calmed again when she saw that it was Nuriko. Only the occupants of the room would have the keys. Given that she and Nuriko would be sharing the same room for the night, it would make sense that the violet-haired Seishi would have keys to their room. Still, she wished her friend would have warned her first before entering.

"You could have knocked first. I could have been still bathing." Kayla said annoyed, feeling her face heating up at the embarrassing thought of having someone unexpectedly walked in on her bathing.

One of Nuriko's delicate eyebrows rose skeptically. "You've been in here for a long time. Even I didn't took so long in cleaning myself up. I doubted that you were still bathing so I just walked in."

"You could have walked in on me changing!" Kayla protested, her face still burning.

"And were you?" Nuriko asked amusedly.

"Well… no…" Kayla admitted, her face cooling down a bit but frowned. "Still, it's a matter of principle. You still should have knocked."

Nuriko chuckled. "Alright, next time I need to walk into our room, I'll be sure to knock first."

"Thank you."

"However, the idea in walking in on you changing might be interesting," Nuriko said contemplatively as if considering whether or not he should have an afternoon walk in the garden.

Kayla balked at the Nuriko's words as she felt her face heated again . Surely, Nuriko wouldn't… "WHAT?" She bit out a strangled reply.

"Don't get me wrong. I would only like to observe from a strictly curiosity standpoint. I mean, I would like to know how you managed to fool everyone for so long into thinking that you are a guy." Nuriko continued on contemplatively as if he hadn't noticed Kayla's shock. "Tell me, do you have any other methods other than all those layers of clothes you use to hide yourself. You must wear some kind of binding of course. What's your secret? Can I see?"

"NURIKO… Don't you… even… DARE!" Kayla grounded out, her face was so red that she was sure that she would get dizzy from the constant sudden changes in blood rush to her head. Then she caught the mischievous twinkle in the Seishi's violet eyes and knew that the Nuriko was teasing her again. "Not funny," she grumbled, but couldn't bring herself to stay angry at her friend for too long.

Nuriko laughed hard at her sullen expression. "Come on Kayla, I'm hurt that you would think for one second that I would try anything like that," he said teasingly, acting like he had been deeply wounded by her words.

Kayla didn't say anything. She honestly wasn't sure what to think when her friend made such a comment. Nuriko was… well Nuriko. Someone who was always teasing her and sometimes surprising her in the most unexpected manner like just now.

Nuriko stopped laughing when he noticed Kayla's silence. "You do know that right?" he asked more solemnly. "That I would never take advantage of you like that." Though the alto-toned in his voice was light, the slight hurt in his voice was evident.

Kayla wanted to kick herself. She felt like the worst person possible for doubting Nuriko. Nuriko was her friend. Her friend who was so beautiful inside and out. Someone who had treated her like a close sister and always been there to help her whenever she was in a bind. Someone who had kept her secret even though he had no reason to other than the sole reason that he was her friend. Nuriko was Nuriko.

She quickly crossed the few steps towards the sadden Seishi and gave him a hug wholeheartedly hoping to express even a bit of the overwhelming gratitude she felt for his person. "I do know Nuriko, I really do," she whispered. "You have no idea how lucky you make me feel having you as a friend."

Surprised and touched, Nuriko looked down at the dark crown of the girl's head, feeling her arms around his waist. His heart unexpectedly ached tenderly for the girl. He had been so worried for a moment when he thought Kayla didn't trust him. Other then his beloved little sister Kourin who had died all those many years ago and his miko Miaka, Kayla was the third girl he had ever felt equivalent to the intensity of care he felt towards the opposite sex. However, unlike Kourin or Miaka, whom he was destined to love from the moment he was born, his feelings (which he had come to associate with as love) was different. Different in a way that he chose to love Kayla, love her like she was family, care for her like he would as he would his own sister, and protect her with the same fierceness as he had for his miko. It was his choice. A choice that he didn't for one moment, regret.

Therefore, imagine to his relief when Kayla had wrapped her arms around him in an act of pure compassionate faith and told him how much he meant to her as a friend. He hadn't even realized just how deep his feelings for her ran until that pure agonizing moment when he saw the hesitation in Kayla's eyes and how much it had hurt. The signs had been there now that he reflected upon it, and wondered why he hadn't noticed it before. Kayla had became very dear to him and he would hurt anyone who would so much as harm a hair on the girl's head including a certain hot-tempered comrade whom he suspected Kayla may have growing feelings for for some time. Only the clueless girl was so inexperienced in the matter of the heart, she didn't even realized just what her feelings meant.

Not to mentioned Nuriko also suspect that for some time now, Kayla's feelings were reciprocated whether the hot-tempered Seishi was aware of his own feelings or not. And Tasuki being the ignorant baka (never minding that he still believes that Kayla is a boy) was probably not. Even though it was plain obvious that the way he treats Kayla was far differently then he treated anyone else. Sure, they argue and fight like cats and dogs but it didn't stopped Tasuki's eyes from straying to Kayla if only to check for what seem like the hundredth time during the day that the girl was alright when he thought that no one was looking. Or the way that the man's amber eyes will seem to lit up whenever she would enter the room or when he talks/argues with her. Or how protective(or sometimes irrational) he would become when there was even a slight hint that she would be hurt. Well if all these signs weren't proof of Tasuki having some feelings for Kayla (boy or not) then Nuriko would admit that he was ugly. Which was impossible of course.

"Hey are you done cleaning yourself up already? The rest of the group have already started on their dinner and waiting for you so that we could discuss strategy in what we are to do next." Nuriko asked when he finally stepped away from the girl's embrace, and giving her a thorough look over. Other than the bruise on her face, she looked fine and Nuriko was unsure why Kayla would have taken so long to prepare herself.

"Oh!" Kayla exclaimed and her eyes dropped in embarrassment and shame. "I'm sorry, I didn't realized that I was holding everyone else up. I thought you guys would just start discussing without me, not that I'd mind if you guys do after all I'm not…mmmphh." She was cut short when Nuriko placed a hand on her mouth effectively stopping her nervous rambling.

Nuriko smiled at the endearing girl as she stared back at him in puzzlement. Her amber eyes questioning in what he could possibly find so amusing. He slowly removed his hand away from her mouth when he was sure that she was not going to argue or continue her rambling. "Do you honestly think that we would start without you? Please Kayla, you're part of the team. There was no way we would start planning without wanting your opinions too."

Kayla blinked as Seishi's words sank into her mind. to them. They really feel that I'm one of them? Despite the fact that I'm practically someone who had just stumbled upon their group without an explanation in who I am or what my past is? Did it not matter? All these questions swarm within her mind. Part of her was afraid to believe in her friend's words but a larger part of her, the same part that had been so broken from many years spent in slaving for her relatives, was crying out and clutching to the possibility that every single word that the Seishi's words were sincere. She really wanted to believe in those words. You could even say that she was desperate in believing so.

That she was really accepted by them.

But something always held her back from falling too deep in hoping.

Would they still be so accepting of her after she told them the truth about herself? That she had been lying to them all this time?

She studied Nuriko who was smiling back at her with his violet eyes radiating with trust and concern for her. Nuriko had been accepting of her secret. Miaka had been accepting as well even though the poor miko had been so startled by the discovery at first. Was she ready to let the others know as well? Was she ready to risk all their friendships? Was she ready to risk his trust?

"So are you ready to go or not?" Nuriko asked a bit impatiently if not a bit worriedly, unaware of the inner battle that was raging within Kayla as she stood there unresponsive to his first question.

Kayla snapped out of her thoughts, feeling a bit guilty that she was worrying her friend again. "I…" she started before swallowing nervously. "I think so," she answered quietly. She felt like she was sealing her fate when she had spoken those three simple words.

Nuriko said nothing when he noticed the girl's nervousness but only continued to look worriedly at the girl's back when he lead her to meet the rest of their friends.

Author'sNotes

Yeah finally chapter 20 is up. Sorry for taking so long again. We were going through a writer's block and we were really stuck for a bit. But luckily its over now and we're back on track.

Thank you readers for all the support you have given us. Your patience forever astounds us.

This little part of the story about Miaka's kidnapping is taking longer than we expected but we think it had actually became another turning point for Kayla and the conflicts she went through had actually made her realize a few dilemmas that she was unwilling to face before. First and foremost concerning her secret, her close friendships with Miaka and Nuriko and of course, the awkward (if not amusing) relationship she has with Tasuki (and vice versa) LOL.

Poor Tasuki is really protective of Kayla and most of the time he is unsure why when it is plain obvious to some people 'cough' Nuriko 'cough'

Isnt' Nuriko just the sweetest? Sigh

And Miaka, she really pulled through in the end.

Next chapter: More Tasuki and Kayla interactions, more sparks and maybe… hmmm… a jealous tirade? Oh dear…

Love Always and Sincerely,
Twin Girls