Chapter 9: Accidents Can Strengthen Bonds
The little hut in the woods was so out of the way visitors rarely came by, if any. It was surrounded by lush greenery, located in the heart of the wilderness. Only two people lived in that house – a woodsman and his wife.
Untoward incidents rarely occurred in the forest, for the townsmen were wise enough to keep away at night. Attacks from wild animals were virtually unheard of, violent killings practically non-existent. But it wasn't that way when the woodcutter arrived home to the familiar sight of his wife stirring something at the stove. He fumbled and checked himself over until his wife had to ask whether there was anything wrong. He told her he dropped his water skin and would go find it. Outside, the distant howl of a wolf rippled into the growing dark. The wife told him to forget about it and served him his dinner.
For the rest of the evening, the woodcutter's movements were abrupt and jerky, and his eyes kept darting back and forth on the table.
"I have to go back," he finally said, laying down his chopsticks.
It wasn't just about the water skin, now, the wife was sure. Bustling up, she reached for a piece of wood and dipped it into the fireplace. "The wolves are prowling. You should be careful."
His reply was a silent nod as he took the torch and strode out.
Fifty or so years of walking through the same woods came in handy in the dark. The fire was barely needed as the man tramped through the brush, knowing exactly where he was going. The wolf howled again and he paused to listen. It had come from somewhere not too far away. By the utter silence in the area, it could mean the pack was stalking prey. He walked faster, crashing through low foliage. The wolves were taking an unnaturally long time to pounce. If they were bent on capturing a small animal, he should have heard the rush of attack and the dying squeal by now. But except for his footsteps, everything was still and quiet.
The torch parted a glowing way through the trees. A heavy chill skittered down his spine. He had not felt it in a while, the last being when he stumbled upon a dead hunter.
Heavy breath now mingled with the noise of his feet. To survive in the wild, one had to learn to trust gut feeling. That was the mantra that kept him alive thus far. Now, his gut feeling was telling him something was very wrong.
Then he heard it. The quick tackles were too quiet for any normal person to hear. Common sense urged the woodsman to brush it off as his imagination, but his senses were far too heightened to permit it. An excited mind told him the rustle came from wolves closing in on their catch. Paws fell in rhythmic thumps on the dewy forest floor, and the next instant, the familiar throaty growl echoed in the air. Chest heaving, he waited for the dying cry, certain that he was too late.
It never came. In its stead was a flare of red shooting up into the empty darkness above. Frenzied snarls grew louder, and the bestial attacks forgot to be discreet. Wolves charged into their superhuman foe, rushing only to be repelled by the solid red light. Finally, the growling died away into vanquished whimpers, and the woodsman once again found himself running towards the source of the strange glow.
He saw the body at once – dashed against a large boulder. Beside it, the barrier was just retreating back into the palm of a young man.
"Is there a doctor close by?" Anxiety lined his comical face.
The woodsman approached slowly, peering at the body out of the corner of his eyes. It belonged to a girl, and was thankfully not as disfigured as he thought it would be. "I'm not sure – " he was about to tell the young man that the girl might be in more need of an undertaker than a doctor when he caught the weak rise and fall of her chest.
"I found Ami-chan here not too long ago," the blue-haired man's face was strained as he cradled his fragile bundle. "She must have fallen from the top of the cliff. Please, where is the closest doctor?"
"My wife can take care of her while I go and fetch one." Giving the strange pair another once-over, the woodsman led the way back into the gloom from whence he had emerged.
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Holy fire came on the menu for the first few idiots.
Fighting was more difficult when one was protecting a fallen comrade, but Tasuki didn't mind the extra strain. As he waded through the sea of scrambling men, only two things reigned: anger at the threat made on Lolita's life, and the fear of her dying before he could finish fighting. His opponents were stronger than he had expected – weathered thugs who probably duelled to death for fun – and they were determined to get the girl.
"We ain't got ransom, so leave 'er alone!" He was clearly outnumbered, but the rage firing his veins was more than enough to keep him going. One elbow smashed into a man's nose, while a wide sweep of his gleaming fan shot another into physical hell.
"Dealers pay more than we can earn asking for ransom!" The sneering reply came clear through the din, and Tasuki lunged at one of the men making a grab for the girl. Dragging him up by the collar, the bandit wasted no time driving his fist into the other's face.
"Fuck off!" he snarled, whirling around to face the others. Most of the men were already down, thanks to the front-liners who very conveniently spread the fire around. Unfortunately, the embers from the burning men caught onto the wooden structure. The tavern was going to go down in flames very soon.
Eyes darting to Lolita, his chest momentarily clenched in an overwhelming surge of the dominant emotions. "Where's the antidote!"
The man who started the whole mess staggered up, casually licking blood off the side of his mouth. A monster of a man, he towered well over Tasuki, his arms like posts as he swaggered towards his counterpart, eyes never leaving the girl on the floor.
"The antidote is in the stronghold."
The seishi glared, moving to shield Lolita from the other's malicious glance.
"You're gonna haf'ta give `er to us if ya want 'er to live."
Tasuki snorted. It had suddenly dawned on him that while he might not be able to tell what poison the slave traders used, he had seen the after-effects of enough lethal ones to know that while there weren't convulsions or rasping breaths, the situation couldn't be too critical. He was sure Lolita could hold out a few more minutes.
A slow grin spread across his face. "Ya know, I think I change my mind." The words lingered in the air longer than he did. Surprise barely registered in his opponent's face than Tasuki flashed away, only to reappear behind the man to send a spinning kick to the side of his head. The slave trader reeled in surprise, but managed to retaliate with a swift blow that had Tasuki scrambling to defense.
"Not bad, kid." The ringleader grinned as they fell back to their respective starting positions. The tavern was growing warmer and warmer with the fire, and sweat trickled down the men's faces. Glasses on the counter exploded from the heat one another the other, littering the floor with shards of rainbow colour. Smoke steadily piled up, roiling into the ceiling like low-lying storm clouds.
Tasuki's gaze flickered towards Lolita, who lay inches behind him. For the moment, she would be all right where she was – away from the smoke. But the beams were creaking and a part of the second-storey floor had already crashed in one corner. It wouldn't take long for the rest to follow.
He swore. There he was, slugging it out, thinking it was the best thing to do while the building they were in happily burned to the ground. Upon retrospect, he realized it was a stupid, reckless, ego-tripping move. It hadn't gotten him anywhere closer to the antidote, and he sure as hell was not going to progress towards it after beating the shit out the slave traders' leader. The smart thing to do was run. He didn't like the idea too much, but it was definitely better than waiting to roast alive.
It's what Chiri would do under the circumstances, he thought, forgetting to feel the jealous pang that crept up unbidden. The older seishi was a model of sensibility; since he hadn't gotten anybody killed or dangerously injured yet, he must have been doing something right.
"Damn, I hate to do this," Tasuki muttered, backing away from his opponent to scoop up Lolita.
"Runnin' away, fang boy?"
"Ya can stay tuh' burn yer sorry ass if ya want to," he retorted. Focusing on escaping rather than on rolling up his sleeves and fighting was easier said than done. Casting a final glare at his opponent, "If anythin' happens to his girl here, I will personally hunt ya down and kill ya in th' most painful way possible." Then, hitching Lolita higher up his arms, he left the ringleader in a rush of air and a burning tavern full of the latter's fallen men.
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Chichiri looked the epitome of calm while he sat at the woodsman's kitchen table.
In the past few hours, the panic of searching for Ami had escalated into an almost unbearable tension. He had scoured the woods, expanded his chi – all to no avail. He couldn't find her, and the dread had begun to be painful. Night was descending fast. After hearing the scream, he feared he wouldn't find her until daybreak. Anxiety clouded his focus, and it wasn't until he regained that – a difficult process that felt longer than usual – that he found her.
Finding her wasn't all too much better. He had sensed her life force near the bandits' hold, clear on the other side of the area he was searching. The usual warmth was barely pulsing, slipping away as he fought to pinpoint its exact location. Cursing himself, Chichiri teleported back to the vicinity of the hideout. There, the aura was clearer, and he arrived at the bottom of the crag in time to keep the waiting pack of wolves from devouring her.
A shiver rippled through him and he flinched. He didn't like thinking about what could have happened were he a second too late, but the scene kept pushing until his mind was wrapped with nothing except that horrific possibility. Seeing her as he did – bleeding and white as death – already shook him with a dozen regrets. Regrets like how he shouldn't have left her that night; how he should have just trusted Tasuki to take care of Lolita and not worried over them too much. He had left Ami vulnerable, and the next time he saw her she was –
"You should eat."
The solicitous voice rocked him from his troubled thoughts, and Chichiri looked up to see the gentle face of the woodsman's wife. He nodded, but made no attempt towards the bowl of food and the pair of chopsticks neatly laid out beside it.
After a stretched silence, Chichiri felt he should say something; thank them. After all, the woodsman had indeed found a doctor.
"Thank you for helping us, no da."
The wife shook her head. "It is a small thing to do for the ones who saved our country from destruction." Chichiri's head snapped up in surprise. Apparently, the story of the Suzaku no miko had spread even into the heart of the forest. Looking at the closed door behind which the doctor disappeared over an hour ago, the woman sighed. "I hope she's all right."
"So do I, no da."
From his place, the woodsman asked, "Do you think she was running away from somebody?"
Chichiri nodded wearily. "Ami-chan disappeared last night, no da. The Konan guards told us that maybe the revolutionaries took her. When I went to look for her this afternoon, I saw a sort of stronghold. The men were referring to selling somebody into the slave trade, no da. And as I was leaving, I heard her scream." In a smaller, frustrated voice he added, " But it took me so long to find her."
"It is true that revolutionaries roam the area," the elderly man agreed. "Even with the Konan guard, they have managed to terrorize the villagers into obedience. But recently, men have been defecting from their cause, and the remaining members have turned to robbing to survive. They are afraid of discovery by the patrollers and only resort to kidnapping when there are witnesses to their crimes." As he said this, the woodsman's eyes travelled back and forth between the closed door and Chichiri's face. "Now that they are dabbling into the slave trade, do you think they would come back for your companion?"
His question went unanswered as the doctor chose that moment to interrupt. Chichiri instantly stood, but the high hopes he had been nurturing deflated at the doctor's look. "How is she...no da?"
"Hard to tell," the doctor confessed, softly closing the door behind him. His hands were reddened with blood, and his expression was tight. "I was able to stitch the wound closed, but the head injury is serious. If the internal bleeding continues, she might never wake up again. I will be back tomorrow, and we will do everything we can for her." He looked at each of them in turn, bowed, and left.
Chichiri did not wait to excuse himself to go to Ami's room. He slipped in quietly, momentarily lingering with his back to the door. When he finally talked himself into approaching, guilt nearly overwhelmed him, and he collapsed into the chair at the bedside.
He was supposed to take care of her. She was supposed to be all right. They were supposed to be on their jolly way to Mt. Taikyouku, maybe camping out somewhere for the night. But now one of them was a hair's breadth away from death, and he had no idea how the others were. Not even three days from Eiyou and everything was going downhill.
Elbows on his knees, Chichiri dropped his head and heaved a loud sigh. One of his hands involuntarily wrapped around hers, his thumb gently stroking the scratched flesh. "I'm so sorry, Ami-chan. From now on, I'll always watch over you. Just please wake up."
She didn't even stir.
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With the doctor gone, the aide was having the time of his life. The hardest time of his life. An impromptu fire had suddenly decided to spring up at the only tavern in town. If the owner hadn't come running, he would have been caught off guard by the sudden wave of men who staggered through the doors, leaning against each other's soot-covered clothes.
The clinic was a picture of chaos. Scattered around the waiting room were patients with varying degrees of burns while the closest thing to a doctor tended to the more severely injured ones. Moans replaced talking, and the alarmed shouting as villagers outside rushed to put out the fire did not help the noise level.
"Oi, where is the doctor!"
The newcomer didn't even have to bang his way through the battered door anymore.
Sighing at the new voice, the doctor's aide briefly left a patient to poke his head around the corner into the waiting room. "The doctor's out," he shouted back to the orange-haired man above the pandemonium. "If it's minor burns, please wait your turn. I have an emergency patient here."
But the other man was nowhere near taking orders. Already tired from all the rushing, the apprentice merely flicked a disinterested glance at the girl in the other's arms. "Look, you'll have to wait with the others. She's neither burnt nor asphyxiated, and there are other things I need to look into other than a fainting spell," he retorted acidly.
In reply, a feral growl rumbled from the orange-haired man. The doctor's aide suddenly noticed the end of a metal fan protruding from a holster in his back, but the recognition that dawned was instantly wet-blanketed. His job was to save people, not gawk over national celebrities.
"Just because you're a Suzaku seishi – "
"Shut the hell up!" Tasuki finally exploded. "If y' weren't too busy bein' cocky, ya would'ave seen the poisonin' case right under yer arrogant nose!" Lolita stirred at his shouting, and he gripped her tighter. The apprentice hesitated. "Are ya gonna do anythin' about it!"
Nodding, the younger man motioned him into a spare room before disappearing to gather supplies. He was back faster than either expected, dumping an assortment of tinctures atop the bedside table. The word "posion" worked like a charm. Dropping everything else, the doctor's aide was suddenly everywhere at the same time – leafing through medical references, sorting through herbs, and sniffing bitter solutions. Watching the other rush somewhat abated Tasuki's fears. At least there was somebody who could help them now.
"When did the patient lose consciousness?" The young man had his fingers pressed against the girl's wrist, while the free hand rested on her forehead, checking for fever.
"Just b'fore th' fire started," replied the flame seishi, drawing himself up straighter as the wave of panic threatened to return. But the young man only nodded, and a relieved smile even flitted across his face as he tipped the contents of a vial into Lolita's mouth. She coughed briefly, and then her eyes fluttered open.
"She'll be all right." Patting the covers, the young man gathered his things and returned to the madhouse waiting in the front hall.
Tasuki immediately took over the recently vacated chair. With the closed door blocking the noise outside, it seemed as if the room in the doctor's clinic was all that remained of the whole world. At least, it was that way to him who was washed with relief as Lolita's eyes focused and drank him in.
"Some mutt poisoned ya, an' ya passed out in th' middle o' th' second piece," he informed her, immediately knowing she'd ask. "Yer at the doctor's now. The old man's apprentice gave ya somethin' an' said ya'd be okay."
He thought she'd start crying and asking for Chichiri the way she had every time she was hurt during the past months. What Tasuki didn't expect, however, was the smirk twitching up one side of her mouth. "I must have scared you pretty badly, huh?"
"No kiddin'."
Lolita breathed deeply, wrinkling her nose at the sterile scent. Wriggling under the blankets, she propped herself up on an arm and stared squarely back at Tasuki. "So how much did we get paid?"
His jaw dropped in pure incredulity, and for a moment, all he could do was sputter incoherently.
In response, she raised a delicate eyebrow. "I promised to help get us back on track, and I intend very much to fulfill that promise." When he didn't reply, the questioning look deepened, and Lolita leaned forward to peer into his face. Raw emotion, through bridled, was livid. The intensity of his amber eyes sent an uncomfortable tingle throughout her body. "Tasuki...?"
The wavering query turned into a surprised gasp as a wall of fabric suddenly enveloped her. Lolita's arm slid out from underneath her, and she collapsed back onto the bed, crushed in his tight embrace. "Unfeeling moron," he whispered, voice gruff with worry. The words blazed a flushed trail from her neck into her cheeks, swelling her astonishment into uneasy breathlessness. The hand braced on the back of her neck clutched desperately, and Lolita shut her eyes against the surge of satisfaction. " I was scared you'd die on me."
It felt so wrong to be enjoying another man's reassurances when once upon a time she vowed to belong, body and soul, to only one person. It crossed her mind that at a time like the one now, she should be looking for that blue-haired seishi. Then when she realized that she had to stop and think before wanting Chichiri, her stomach twisted into a tight knot.
All of a sudden, his weight was too much to bear; she couldn't breathe. The knot in her stomach exploded into a colony of angry bees. Lolita didn't know whether she wanted to melt into his grasp or squirm out of it. Either way, just lying there, feeling what she was feeling, seemed like a mortal sin against Chichiri. Confused tears stung at her eyes. Something had to be done.
"Please..." He pulled away enough to allow her to slide her hands between them. She wanted to push him away, but his anguished expression halted the motion. For a full minute they lay pressed together.
Tears tracked a salty stain down her cheeks.
Tasuki reared back in surprise. "What's the matter?" instinctively, he reached out to wipe her eyes, but before they could make contact, she buried her face into the pillow to muffle the rising sobs. His outstretched hand clenched into a fist that fell useless at her side. "It's something I did, isn't it?"
She shook her head.
But he knew better. Fighting the urge to touch her again, Tasuki mumbled an apology and left.
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When he returned late that night, he fully expected Lolita to be asleep. But when he tiptoed into her room, he found the bedside candle still burning. She sat on the edge of the bed, hands clasped on her lap, and for a fleeting moment, Tasuki expected to be scolded for creeping in at the dead of the night. He froze with his back to the door, warily eyeing her as she visually traced his movements. Silence reigned between them, and his heart stammered at the spectral shadows flickering on her face.
He swallowed. "Y-ya look like a ghost." Even to himself, Tasuki thought he sounded terrified.
"Thank you for the observation," she deadpanned. They stared at each other for a long minute, neither moving until Lolita snickered. Suddenly, the rigidity of her posture softened as she succumbed to a giggling fit. Tasuki remained at the door, too stunned to move. "Scaredy cat," she said between chuckles, and patted a spot beside her on the bed, the afternoon's episode completely forgotten. The seishi approached, but did not take her offer.
"What's the big idea?" he grumbled, looking her down his nose. From his vantage point, she looked just like a mischievous child. "Y're not feelin' well. Sick people are s'pposed to be in bed early, not waiting up to poke fun at their caretakers." Her tongue briefly flicked out, creating in him a compulsion to close his mouth over it. He made himself look away, thanking the darkness that shaded his warming face. "Go to sleep. If ya really hafta bother me, wait 'till the mornin'."
"It can't wait." The abrupt gravity of her tone quashed whatever thoughts he had been unsuccessfully trying to suppress, and he snapped around to meet her eyes. She sat tall, and the hands were once again clenched on her thighs. "The doctor came by sometime after you left. He had been to the forest, where he said an old man called him to tend to a girl." Tasuki stiffened, but said nothing. "The old man found her and her companion, a monk, at the edge of the woods some distance away from the back of a bandit hideout."
"Yer not sayin'...?"
She shook her head. "Ami is critical, though. Severe head injury, cracked ribs, a twisted ankle, and superficial lacerations." Her faithful reiteration of the doctor's words made them both cringe. "Even the doctor said he doesn't know if she'll last. We have to go find them, Tasuki."
Though he, too, was sobered, the news didn't affect him as much as it did her. Of course he cared whether Ami lived or died, but he knew that dropping in didn't make potentially comatose people better. Besides, he was so much more concerned over his own charge. "We'll go when yer better."
"Tomorrow, then."
Rolling his eyes, he reached out to pat the top of her head. "Four days." She would bargain.
"Tomorrow."
"Two days."
Something in his tone told her the decision was final, and she nodded. "Deal. Two days."
He held the bedcovers open with a triumphant smirk and waited for her to burrow underneath them before taking the chair where he planned to spend the night. He had just blown out the candle and was nodding off when a tiny voice called out.
"Yeah?" He cracked an eye open. Enough moonlight came through the open window for him to discern her outline. At the moment she lay on her side, closely scrutinizing him.
"I've never really done anything for you," she blurted out.
"What on earth would prompt y' tuh say somethin' that stupid?"
He heard the rustle of the sheets as she twisted into a more comfortable position. "Well...you're always there when I need you. And even when I don't," she mumbled as an aside, eliciting a snort from him.
"So lil' miss fair an' square doesn't think it's even, does she?"
"No." She fiddled with the hem of the blanket and continued, "If there's anything I can do for you – anything – you just let me know, okay?"
It took a while for her words sink in. Damn, there were a lot of things she could do for him if she only stopped thinking of Chichiri, starting with noticing him at last.
Tasuki's thoughts ground to a halt.
Throughout the day, he had been thinking of the spoiled little brat more often then usual. The thoughts that went through his mind were not comforting, either, warning him of a new, and potentially dangerous, territory. Yet he couldn't help smiling at her earnestness.
"Sure, though I don' think there's lots somebody who can't even fetch water can do fer me," he gruffly replied, and had the pleasure of hearing her roll over with a huff.
"Guess I can't count on a bandit to be gentlemanly." She had to add, "Except for Kouji."
Bristling, he shot forward in his chair so that his face was directly over hers. "I can too be gentlemanly."
She turned to the wall with a shrug. "Show, Tasuki, not tell."
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A/N: Choppy is definitely the word for this chapter. Much like the previous one, it's supposed to be plot-driven. I can't think of any other way to imply the passage of time than to use cutback. I got used to doing that storyboarding for manga, but I guess it's just not the same for real literature. (sulks into a corner) Anyway! I'm working on that problem. (Don't hesitate to give me a little push in the right direction...read: reviewreviewreview)
Ahem. Next chapter will probably be devoted to Chichiri and Ami, and I hope to get somewhere with them. There is still a lingering question, though: how experienced is Chichiri with women? Until I get past that as well as manage to dig deep inside his head, I guess chapter 10 will momentarily have to be put on hold. But the updates will still come quick, because it's the last weeks of summer break, and...okay. Time to shut up. I'm babbling. Sorry.
See you guys next chapter! (If anybody still cares enough to follow this story, anyway...)