Disclaimer: Let's get real here, ok? If I owned Fushigi Yuugi I would not be writing fanfictions. And the boys would have their shirts off more often. And Miaka would've ditched Tamahome for Tasuki sometime within episodes 20-30.

I feel like I've been using too many pronouns and commas in my stories so I'm probably gonna call Tasuki by his nickname (Genrou) and his given name (Shun'u) a few times, along with traditional Tasuki.

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Later that night, Nuriko decided to 'wake up' just in time for dinner. The whole time everybody just talked and laughed, they even had Pa'liu's family over to celebrate. At one point Kai decided that it was ok to make fun of Tasuki for the big list of stuff they used to, consisting of hair, fangs, disability to swim, etc. Big mistake there. He smacked her across the head so hard that everyone was sure she would be braindead for at least a week. While she stumbled towards the bathroom she said something along the lines of, "...Ouch..." Although we can't be sure because her speech was so slurred. The poor woman wasn't seen for the rest of the night.

"So, Kourin, right?" Koura asked Nuriko, who nodded his head in return. "You're very pretty-" She was about to make a joke about how she never thought Shun'u could get someone as pretty as Nuriko, but glancing at her sister's deserted chair she decided better of it.

"I know. I'm told that all the time. Especially by my Tasuki-waski-poo," Nuriko poked the fiercly blushing bandit on the nose playfully and giggled in a girly fashion. To make it look like he had actually slept, his long violet hair hung at full length instead of in a tight bun.

Tasuki's first instinct to this affectionate gesture was to smack Nuriko on the back of his head with the tessen, but his second instinct was to play along. Thankfully, he just went with the second instinct. "That's 'cuz ya are baby."

"Tasuki..."

"N-Kourin..."

"Tasuki..."

Again, both men started to laugh out loud, while everybody else looked confused and, well, slightly uneasy.

"No, wait, I don't get it, what's so funny?" Tasuki's sister Kourin asked, scratching her head.

Slowly but surely, the laughing ceased. Nuriko waved a dismissing hand and reaching for a dinner roll explained, "Ah, it's just a little inside joke."

"Well, could you let us in on it?" She asked again, moving her head in a way that someone might while saying 'Thanks for stating the obvious'.

"I s'pose, if ya wanted," Now the bandit scratched his head and shrugged, signaling for Nuriko to explain.

"And howcome you live at the palace Lady Kourin? After all, you're not a Seishi or a servant, so we've heard from Shun'u." Pa'liu inquired.

"Uh, becau-"

"Cuz she stays with me o' course! Emperor Sahieti agreed ta lettin' 'er in so long as we ain't too noisy while everyone else's sleepin'," Tasuki lied while nudging his comrade in the arm and ignoring his glare that somehow managed to look evil, amused, and proud all at once.

"Yep. So we're just really really quiet," Nuriko concluded, quite enjoying teasing Tasuki's family.

Desperatly trying to change the subject, Tasuki's mother (A/N: I think I'll call her...Mai..hehe) clapped her hands together and Tasuki braced himself for another butload of questions. "So, Shun'u. What name do you go by these days?"

Tasuki rolled his eyes and smacked himself on the forehead, "Are ya fuckin' kiddin' me? Ta-su-ki. An' ta my special friend Kouji an' all tha bandits, it's Genrou. But only ta 'em."

"-Ahem- Ok. Tasuki. Not to sound rude or anything, but where did you learn such language?"

"Duh! I been growin' up with bandits fer tha past few years. I'm tha lead'r now, by tha way," The flame-haired bandit was starting to get fed up and he didn't know why.

"I see, well, could you try to, well, um, stop-talking like that? After all, there are minor's here," His mother again looked slightly uneasy.

"Oh, like who?" Tasuki asked, having forgot about Li'an and Pa'liu. For that matter, he had also forgotten that another family was there besides his own.

Everybody turned to face Li'an and Pa'liu, causing Nuriko to blush for some reason. The rest of the meal was eaten in silence.

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Nuriko decided to retire to bed early again. Actually, he stayed up reading. Tasuki did the opposite; he went to a bar. It wasn't untill midnight that Nuriko, still wide awake, heard the front door open and close. Within a few seconds Tasuki barged into the room, wide-eyed and a deep shade of red. "Hello," Nuriko greeted with some curiosity as to why his friend was dark red. Tasuki grumbled his unintelligible reply. Slightly amused, Nuriko set his book down and asked,"What's wrong?"

"AffinxImrudunkergin," The bandit was swaying back and forth and hiccuping. After about thirty seconds Nuriko deciphered what had been said as 'I think I'm real drunk again'. Rolling his eyes, the purple haired seishi got up and guided his friend into the kitchen. He then took a variety of herbs from the pantry and began making some sort of drink, which he gave to the-still-swaying-and-hiccuping-Tasuki. After gulping it down, the latter turned nearly as purple as his friend's hair and started...tossing his cookies. And lots of alchohol, too. "That fuckin' tasted like shit! What was it?" He asked, not realizing that he could talk straight again.

"It's a special medicine. It cures drunkedness," Nuriko stated matter-of-factly.

"Well, what if I like bein' drunk?" Tasuki stubbornly crossed his arms. Nuriko placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure you do. But you can't risk it. You're very honest when you're drunk, you know that?"

"Yeah...and...?" The bandit asked, taking care to say the 'D' at the end of 'And', which Nuriko found weird. "Yeah...and...if you're drunk you might accidentally tell everyone that I'm really a-" There was a rustling in the nearby bushes. Nuriko smacked a hand to his own forehead and whispered, "Shit. It's Li'an."

"Oh! That yer actually a...sister...of my friend...Nuriko?" Tasuki saved. His purple-haired-companion had a 'you're crazy' look on his face at first, then he leaned in and hugged Tasuki and said aloud, "Exactly. And he would hate you forever if he found out that we're going together in public without his permission, right?" He then whispered so only his friend could hear, "Wow. You're on a roll today, aren't you? Two saves."

"Yup," The bandit replied, glaring into the horizon. Nuriko, arms still wrapped around the younger seishi, buried his face in his companion's chest and smiled. Tasuki was like a little brother to him, so it naturally made him proud when his little brother picked up special abilities the same as his own, example: Coming up with believable lies off the top of his head. Mostly caught up in the moment, part acting, and a bit of who knows what, Tasuki lifted Nuriko's head and kissed him.

That was when a ridiculously large squirrel hopped out of the bushes.