The Promise: A Tasuki and Miaka Love Story
By KittyLynne
(All rights to Fushigi Yûgi and its characters belong to Yuu Watase/Shogakukan Shoujo Comics/TV Tokyo/ Studio Pierrot / Pioneer Entertainment.)
Author's note: Warning: Contains spoilers for TV series and OVAs. Chapter Rating: 14+ for a bit of coarse language.
Chapter Eight: A Brand New Day
"Hello, hello, sleepy-sleepyhead! Get up, get up! Rise and shine!"
Miaka groaned and rolled over to her side as a joyful voice and the tempting smell of food brought her back to full consciousness. After a moment, her eyes opened wide and she bolted upright, stretching out her arms to the cherub-sized being. "Nyan-Nyan, it's wonderful to see you! How have you been?"
The sprite returned the hug with enthusiasm. "I am fine, but very, very busy! No time to talk, you must eat, right away!"
With that, Nyan Nyan placed a tray loaded with enough food for three people on Miaka's lap.
The Priestess' stomach gave an appreciative growl as she picked up a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. "Oo, everything looks so yummy!"
"Hurry, hurry now, and eat it while it's warm. After that, you dress. You musn't keep your warriors waiting!"
"Where are Chichiri and Tasuki?"
Nyan-Nyan giggled. "They were so very, very concerned about you last night, they wanted to camp right outside your door. I was able to put them in rooms on either side of you instead so they could hear in case you called out for them."
"Oh no!" Miaka exclaimed, setting down her chopsticks as sharp pangs of guilt assailed her. While munching on a snack with Tasuki and Chichiri the previous night, she'd spoken of her apprehensions about Taka's career choice and her life in general. She laid down her troubles at their doorstep, and had gone to bed and slept like a baby, leaving them to wondering and worrying about her. "This is bad. They don't need to worry about me. I don't want them losing sleep on my account!"
"They are your guardian stars. It is right and good for them to worry about you." Nyan-Nyan stated warmly. "Intense personal devotion is a wonderful thing to behold between warriors and priestess. It is very, very good to see that your bond with them has grown ever stronger. It is easy to see that they love you very, very much as men as well as warriors."
Miaka choked slightly on a swallow of juice, and set it on the tray with a thump. Even though she knew it wasn't meant how it sounded, her cheeks were burning at the possible implications to be found in the innocent remark.
The tiny hostess seemed to be unaware of her guest's loss of composure as she continued to bustle around the room. "I clean your clothing, it is on top of the vanity with some other things you might need. I must leave now. Taiits-kun is calling me to attend her, and it displeases her greatly if I am late."
At that, Miaka grinned, relieved at having her thoughts diverted by the amusing recollection of what happened when Taiits-kun lost patience with her maidservant. "It's all right, I understand! Thank you for bringing me breakfast and for doing my laundry."
"You are most welcome! I am glad you are here!"
Waving a cheery farewell to her charge, Nyan-Nyan vanished in a small poof of smoke.
When the celestial servant had gone, Miaka wasted no time in picking up her chopsticks once more and digging into the delicious looking breakfast.
Despite her upcoming dilemma, her heart was feeling lighter than it had in weeks, and she was eager to start a new day.
Tasuki strapped on his backpack and took a final look at the place he had spent the night. Sunlight spilled in from somewhere high above, bathing the lacquered furniture and the huge, soft-as-swan's down bed in a warm glow.
Lying on that bed had been like floating on air, and he must have fallen asleep only a minute or two after slipping underneath the silky-smooth sheets. Despite the knowledge that Miaka was sleeping in the room next door, and his worries about her state of mind and what she was going to do about the Old Lady's request, he had slept through the night until he'd been awoken by a tray bearing Nyan Nyan.
It was amazing what a good night's rest in an actual bed and a fortifying breakfast could do. He felt like he could take on the world… no, make that two worlds, single-handedly.
Of course, knowing that he'd be seeing Miaka again in a few minutes added to that feeling.
She'd been having a bad time of it, and he was more than ready to start cheering her up.
Under the influence of some delicious snacks, she'd opened up a bit more in regards to Taka. Though it was a great relief to hear that Taka's absence wasn't due to sickness or injury, it had made him angry to hear the resignation in Miaka's voice as she spoke of the decision he'd made to leave her alone for weeks at a time. It was something stupid Tamahome had often done, and it made Tasuki question why either would think leaving her was such a good idea. What was Miaka going to do while he was gone? Why didn't he ask her to get married before he went? At least she would have some protection in having his name...
That wasn't the only thing that had bothered him. Miaka showed no inclination to discussing her future with Taka. The pleasure she displayed in telling them of the enjoyable things she had been doing had little to no mention of her beloved. He could tell that Chichiri was bothered by this too. The Miaka they'd sent back home had been so passionate in her desire to marry Taka, and in making plans for that happy day...inconceivable as it was, it seemed that passion was gone. It didn't bode well for her happiness.
He had been loath to ask questions, lest her answers lead to him giving her some straight forward opinions that would make her even more upset. He'd been rather proud that he'd earned a commendation from Chichiri for his uncharacteristic tact once they had left Miaka to her room.
Good that Taka hadn't come along. Tact would be shot to hell if he crossed paths with his reborn brother warrior.
'Ya promised me, Taka! Ya swore t'me that you'd make her happy! It's clear that ya ain't been doin' it. Now I'm gonna hafta kick your ass!'
The thought of having that confrontation brought him some satisfaction, but a surge of chi and Tasuki's grim smile faded as he acknowledged that it was wasn't fair to reprimand Taka when he'd gone crazy and just about killed the guy once for the same reason. Spell or no spell, Miaka hadn't exactly appreciated that kind of concern from him. It had scared her and made her cry.
Taka was his friend. Kicking ass should be a last resort. And he had to remember that even if Miaka was unhappy, he couldn't take advantage of it, or let the idea of it engender any false hopes about having a chance with her. Taka and Miaka's relationship had survived distance and separations before, under the worst times imaginable, hadn't it, so why would this time be any different? Love conquered all, and it would overcome this impasse as it had all the others. Taka was welcome to return to this world to live, and Miaka had nothing to fear by saying yes or no to the proposal. Wherever she ended up, the two of them would be together. Forever.
Oddly enough, that thought wasn't as painful as it could have been. Grandma had pointed out that if Miaka accepted the responsibility of Priestess to the Four Gods, his duty as one of her two surviving Suzaku guardians would ensure he'd get to stay with her for the rest of their lives. Instead of wondering about what was happening with her in the other world, Celestial Warrior Tasuki would be at her side, protecting her and reaping the reward of a close, unbreakable friendship.
Sure, his feelings for her weren't going to change, and the frustration of wanting sex might crop up, but he'd find a way to deal with it. He always did. What mattered, what was important, is that Miaka was back in his life again. In the short term, he wouldn't let himself think about her turning the gods down, or her staying and being married to another guy and having his babies. And no matter the outcome, nothing was going to spoil his enjoyment of an entire month spent exclusively in her company.
A sudden flash of sunshine bouncing off the full length looking glass standing in a corner of the room caught the bandit seishi's eye, and he walked over and stood directly in front of it, regarding his image from head to toe with a critical gaze. Apart from being tall, the unique color of his hair, and being in good physical condition, nothing about his appearance struck him as being that great...and yet Miaka had made it clear that his looks had greatly impressed her.
"She says you've become a beautiful guy," he told his reflection. "Well, don't let it go to yer head. You ain't that bad-lookin', but skinny legs, messy hair, piss-colored eyes and fangs don't exactly add up to beautiful, now, do they? Tamahome is th' really handsome one, an' she was bein' nice. Bein' nice to an old friend… that's all."
His image nodded agreeably then opened its mouth in surprise as a cheerful voice rang out from above.
"Daaa! Good morning, Tasuki! Working on your Hotohori impression?"
Tasuki felt his face growing hot as he glared at the miniature- sized monk floating over his head. "Didn't I tell ya t'knock, ya damn flying squirrel?"
The monk's smile widened as he turned a cartwheel in mid-air. "Did you know those veins standing out in your neck match the color of your tunic?"
"Ya little-" Tasuki took a quick backwards swipe at the chortling imp, who easily dodged the attack. As the glowering redhead turned and lunged again, Chichiri danced just out of his reach.
"Tsk! Missed again! Where's that god-given speed, you know? If you're going to protect Miaka, you better-daaaaaaaaa!"
In the blink of an eye, Chichiri was flat on the floor with a boot planted in the middle of his tiny chest. Fearful of being squashed like a bug, he resumed his normal size and then lay still, blinking dazedly up at Tasuki. The ex-bandit grinned down at him, his exposed fangs gleaming with wolfish satisfaction.
"Y'give?"
His captive nodded, too winded to speak.
"It looks t'me like you're th' one who needs some practicin'!" Tasuki informed him pleasantly, as he removed his boot and held out a hand.
The monk grudgingly took the offer and was hauled to his feet. "That really hurt, you know," he complained, pulling off his mask to give the grinning redhead a one-eyed glare.
"It's your fault ya underestimated me." Tasuki replied firmly. "Anyone that does that always ends up hurtin'."
Chichiri looked down at the mask in his hands. "Always, no da?"
"Always. Ain't no exceptions." The bandit seishi reached back to touch the handle of his tessen, as if in affirmation of his assertion. His hand dropped and his smirk disappeared when the monk removed his mask to reveal a deadly serious expression. "What? What now?"
"That's why you've been hurting, you know." Chichiri stated. "You don't think enough of yourself."
Tasuki stared at him. "What kind of stupid ass thing is that t' say?"
"The kind that's the truth, you know! Miaka forgave you for that night right after it all happened, but you didn't accept that, even when she held you and cried over you! And then last night she said how happy she was to see you and that you were beautiful to her! Miaka has always been honest about her feelings! Aren't you underestimating yourself by refusing to accept her words?"
There was a simmering silence, and then, as comprehension gradually dawned in the younger man's eyes, Chichiri offered up a quick and silent prayer that his friend was finally seeing things as they had been for some time.
"After what I tried to do to her-to them- I didn't think I deserved to be one of the Suzaku seven anymore," Tasuki said slowly. "Even though I beat the spell, I figured they'd be suspicious of my motives, and maybe even afraid that I'd try t' go after her on my own."
"You more than redeemed yourself by ridding yourself of the spell, risking your life in helping me save her from Hikou, and in helping Taka get her back from the false Tamahome." Chichiri pointed out. "Your loyalty to either of them was never in question by any of us! The only thing you're guilty of is falling in love with Miaka and wanting to make her happy! How could you have known an evil being would decide to exploit that love to his advantage? In the end it was the strength of your love for Miaka that enabled you to save her and Taka, so how can you blame yourself for feeling it in the first place?"
Tasuki looked at him, nonplussed. "Shit." He said after a long silence, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head. "When ya put it that way, I guess I can't."
"Glad you've realized it!" The monk said. Deciding to press home his point even further, he added, "and it's not wrong for you to love Miaka now or to want the best for her! And when she called you beautiful, she really meant it, you know! Has all of this finally sunk in?"
The redhead smirked. "Huh. Maybe."
"You know I will always tell you the truth, right?"
"Hell yeah! Why wouldn't I know that by now?"
"Indeed." Chichiri said dryly. "I hope that means I won't have to convince you of that all over again regarding this subject tomorrow or next week or a month from now?"
"Nope! We're movin' on!"
"And it's about time, you know!" The monk slipped his mask back on.
"So shouldn't Mi-chan be up and around by now?" Tasuki asked, anxious to be done with the lecture.
"Not necessarily, you know. She was really worn out, and she might have decided to sl- "
"I'm gonna go pound on her door just to make sure she's okay."
"If you think that's best!" Chichiri agreed, grinning at his friend's rapidly retreating back.
The impatient rapping on the door to her bed chamber startled Miaka, but after a moment's pause she continued to brush her hair. Whoever it was, she wasn't going to let them in until her rebellious cowlick was under control.
"Yo, Mi-chan! Are ya still in bed?"
She recognized the loudly inquiring voice at once, and happiness bubbled up inside her. It really did her heart good to hear Tasuki sounding like his brash and cheerful self once again.
"Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not!" She called back. "Who wants to know?"
In the pregnant silence that ensued she finished her grooming, giving her reflection a smile of satisfaction as the cowlick finally succumbed to the bristles. The pleased smile grew to a grin as she pictured a certain bandit gritting his teeth in exasperation at being kept waiting outside her door.
"Fine, if you're gonna be that way about it," her unseen visitor finally informed her, "then I guess I get all these luscious, juicy peaches to myself."
Now that wasn't fair, Miaka thought, feeling her mouth starting to water. Tasuki knew very well that she had a weakness for peaches, not to mention it had been ages since she had eaten a good one. Well over three years, in fact. She dropped the brush with a clatter. "Wait! I'm up! I'll be right there!"
Hurrying to the door panel, she slid it open and came to a quick halt at the sight of silk-covered arms folded over crossed holster straps and a well-defined set of manly pectorals. After a moment of wide eyed ogling, her gaze traveled upwards to behold a face with a wickedly fanged smile and amber-hued eyes that were glowing with glee.
"Gotcha!" Tasuki chortled.
She regarded him as calmly as she could, considering all of her feminine senses were on high alert and buzzing with awareness of him and how good he smelled. "Good morning. There aren't any peaches, are there?"
"Nope!" He confirmed, with a look of false sympathy. "But ya got some good bandit-type instincts there, kid! Actin' quickly on th' information an' chasin' down your prey was the right thing t'do!"
As he pulled on her cheek, ruffled her carefully brushed hair, and then gave her a brotherly chuck under the chin, Miaka found herself feeling inexplicably irritated. Treating her like a sister was fine, but he could acknowledge she was a full grown woman as well!
Maybe he needed a reminder she wasn't fifteen any more...
"Thank you, but that doesn't make up for not bringing along the treat you said you'd get for me last night." She stated, turning away so he couldn't see the sudden gleam she knew had to have appeared in her eyes.
Tasuki's chuckle held a hint of uneasiness. "What are ya talkin' about? I never-"
"So you forgot!" She accused, suddenly rounding on him. It was rather gratifying to see her warrior's gape of dismay as he took in her moistening eyes and the slight trembling of her lower lip.
"Uh...er...okay, I guess I musta." He admitted weakly. "Um... what was I supposed to get again?"
Miaka looked away and sighed, leaving the weight of her disappointment as a tangible thing hanging between them.
"You promised me last night that you'd get me some of those delicious Sairo peaches for breakfast! After all this time, I was so looking forward to having one ...when I went to bed I even dreamed about it!" She lowered her head, and sniffled loudly, her shoulders hunched with a suppressed mirth which passed for sorrow. "I g-guess I should have known you w-were only joking…"
"I wasn't!" Tasuki said urgently, his voice mirroring his internal panic that she might start to cry. "No need to be sad! I'm gonna find ya the best damn peaches ya ever tasted right now, even if I hafta tear this place apart!"
He let go of her and did an about face on his heel, ready to set off on his mission…only to be stopped in his tracks by her hand partially encircling his wrist.
"Just a minute, Tasuki." Miaka said, with an odd little catch in her voice. "There's one more thing you've forgotten."
Though he knew was blushing, Tasuki forced himself to face the woman who held him captive with the lightest of touches. "There is?" He asked, then swallowed hard as the hand on his wrist slid up his arm to rest on his bicep. "Wh-what's that, Mi-chan?"
When she finally met his gaze, it was impossible for her to hold back a grin. "That you're absolutely right about women! They are cunning, and they don't play fair!"
The bandit seishi's bewildered stare changed to one of comic outrage as his priestess began to laugh.
"Gotcha, Fang Boy!" She crowed as she skipped past him and out the door.
"Why ya little-GET BACK HERE!"
Giggling madly, Miaka took off down the hall with Tasuki in hot pursuit. As she ran, she managed to gasp out a quick hello to Chichiri, who had come out of Tasuki's room to investigate the commotion. The masked seishi returned the greeting, then stood emmeshed in silent speculation as he watched his two friends dashing past him.
'Miaka's been paying a lot of attention to Tasuki since she got here. Flirting with him is not like her at all.' He mused. 'Can't say if she's aware that she's attracted to him, but Tasuki might have more of a chance with her than he thinks.'
Intent on the scene playing before him, the monk took a unseeing step forward and promptly found himself tripping over the backpack that had been dropped when Tasuki had charged after the fleeing Priestess. Irritated by his own inattentiveness, he picked it up by the strap, letting out a surprised grunt as he did so. 'Suzaku, this is really heavy! Did he pack a stash of mud bricks or what?'
Grumbling under his breath, he slung the pack over a shoulder, slipped an arm through the other strap to evenly distribute the weight, and then looked up as laughter mixed with a loud shriek reached his ears.
"Unhand me...you...you...fanged fiend!"
Miaka had been caught and was being hoisted unceremoniously into the air, a sight that had the monk gaping in amusement.
"That's a direct order from your Priestess! Show me some respect!"
Grinning and ignoring her protests, Tasuki splayed her across his shoulders in typical bandit fashion, one arm wrapped around her legs and the other holding her arm to keep her from falling backwards.
"PUT ME DOWN!"
"Can't hear ya, Dumplin' Head! That last screech deafened me!"
"Then I'll have to toast you!"
Chichiri laughed out loud as he watched Miaka free her arm from her captor's grasp and try to pull the tessen out from the holster beneath her, an attempt that was doomed to failure as her awkward position and the distribution of her weight kept it secured in place. The fan's owner laughed nastily at her feeble efforts and then took off down the hall at a pace which forced his captive to let go of the fan and hang on to him for dear life.
The monk continued to chuckle at the sight, but quickly sobered as he watched Tasuki disappear with his cherished burden.
It had been great fun to witness the cheerful horseplay, but doing so had filled him with uneasiness over what consequences the next month might hold for his friends.
'There's no dictating the ways of the human heart.' He thought somberly. 'This will be another choice that Miaka has to make on her own, and it's going to make things doubly hard for her. For now, it's good that she relaxes and has some fun. And Tasuki has earned the right to have this time alone with her.'
With that thought, Chichiri squared his shoulders, realigned the slipping backpack, and set off in the opposite direction from his friends.
To be continued…