He pushed the ratty curtains aside and looked out at the muddy courtyard of the inn. A stable boy led a horse into a covered stall. Another boy rushed over with an armful of worn blankets to keep the horses warm during the impending "storm."
To Nuriko's (apparently) inexperienced eye they looked like regular old rain clouds but the locals appeared to think that a "real doozy" was on its way. The innkeeper had predicted they would get about a foot and a half of snow. A patron of the bar who had introduced himself as Gregary the radish farmer had contradicted him saying he thought they would get snow up to their thighs, if the kami was gentle.
Nuriko had practically choked on his cheap ale, and Tasuki had laughed out loud, proclaiming that they must be "f**king crazy." Chiriko had pointed out that Hokkan was known for unpredictable weather. Chichiri had agreed suggesting that they prolong their stay in the village inn to avoid getting caught in the storm.
At the time Nuriko had been willing to go along. He could catch up on his beauty sleep and just hang out for once. Unfortunately, he had been woken up far too early by Tamahome and Tasuki's squabbling and aside from sleeping, which was impossible and getting drunk, which wasn't really his style, there was nothing to do but sit around.
So he had. After about 2 hours, it was getting incredibly old. After about 3 hours he was getting incredibly bored.
Now it was four hours later. 12:30 in the afternoon and the storm STILL hadn't hit. He looked longingly at the road into the forest. <Maybe I SHOULD have a few drinks. It might take the edge off this boredom.> He sighed in annoyance and opened the door into the common room.
The sound of an argument coming to its peak immediately assaulted his ears. Surprisingly enough, the fight was not between Tamahome and Tasuki but between Tamahome and Hotohori. One look at Miaka's worried face gave him a big hint as to what the argument was about. <They're fighting over her again. I thought they were over that.>
Nuriko sat down on a rough stool at the bar. He already knew that all they had was the watery ale he'd tried to avoid since their first day at the inn.
"I'm a little parched, sir," Nuriko said, forcing a smile for politeness' sake.
"Ale then! Right away, sir," the innkeeper replied, giving a last wipe of the bar before he ducked below the counter to fill a mug at the tap.
"One for me too, innkeeper!" Tasuki bellowed cheerfully, slamming an empty mug down on the counter and plopping himself down on the stool next to Nuriko in much the same manner as he had the mug. "It's not sake but it's not too f**king bad!"
"Glad to hear it sir!" the innkeeper replied as he placed Nuriko and Tasuki's mugs on the counter before them. "'S pretty hard to get sake in these parts, seeing as rice don't grow too well in this climate."
"Yeah! So f**king cold here it's a f**king wonder anything grows at all!" Tasuki said between gulps.
Nuriko sipped his drink cautiously and listened as Tasuki and the innkeeper made polite conversation (or relatively polite, considering that Tasuki says f**king at least once a sentence). True to most men of his trade the innkeeper was a talkative man.
It didn't escape Nuriko's attention that the rest of the common room had fallen silent. He felt the tension present in the room, a herald of their previous state of discord, and wondered how Tasuki could be unaware of it.
Nuriko forced himself to start taking deep gulps from his mug in the hopes that the alcohol would dispel the sense of others emotions dragging at him. His glance moved from the bottom of his mug to Hotohori's face before he pulled it back and drank deeply from his mug. Perhaps he needed it to dull the drag of his own emotions.
"Now that's more f**king like it!" Tasuki said as he slapped him on the back companionably, noticing that Nuriko had finished his mug. "How 'bout some refills!"
"Here, here!" he said, almost managing to sound cheerful. He massaged his temples as he felt a headache starting to pound behind his eyes. The moment his mug was placed before him again he picked it up and sloshed some of the fizzy liquid into his mouth.
"When's this damn storm going to hit?" Nuriko suddenly questioned. The innkeeper looked up at him, slightly surprised by the breakage of his silence, but he didn't miss a beat.
"Oh, it'll hit sometime today or tomorra, you can bet on that. It'll be a big one too! Knock your socks off!" the innkeeper stated, making a vague gesture toward the ceiling as if to motion right through the roof to the clouds.
"How soon?" Nuriko persisted.
"Well, no telling really. It could hit anytime and it'll be sudden too. It almost always is," the innkeeper said as he began to wipe the bar again. While he was distracted with a refill order from Tasuki and the reappearance of Gregary the radish farmer, Nuriko slipped away from the bar, grabbed his coat and left the inn. He paused at the steps for a moment to get his bearings.
"Want your horse, sir?" a stable boy asked him.
"No, thank you. I need to stretch my legs for a bit," he replied, and with a smile and a small wave to the boy he walked off down the road toward the forest. He even felt cheery enough to whistle, as the escape from the cramped and prison-like atmosphere of the inn. He hardly noticed as tiny flakes began to descend from the sky, whipped by a frigid wind.
* * *
<Jeez, I've never seen so much snow in my life!> Nuriko thought as he slogged through the knee-deep snow. He shielded his face with his arm as the wind drove the thick wet flakes into his skin, hair, and clothes.
He'd lost track of how long he'd been walking. He had foolishly left the "road" about a half an hour ago. Since then the snow had started falling faster and with larger flakes. By now he couldn't get back onto the road if he'd wanted to. Nuriko's attempts to backtrack had led to the discovery that the snow had somehow completely covered his tracks. He'd tried to follow what looked like faint tracks and was now so hopelessly lost that he had given up trying to find the road and was now just wandering.
His feet and legs were beyond the point of feeling the cold. His hands were so numb he could barely grip his coat to pull it tighter around himself. His coat was no longer any good anyway. All his clothes were soaked, icicles were beginning to form in his hair, and every gust of wind chilled him further. His whole body was shaking like a leaf.
<Forget the road, I just need shelter.> He set his eyes to looking for anything that might do. He just needed to get out of the snow and the wind.
Nuriko's vision was beginning to blur when his eyes fixed on a likely place. Large full pine boughs weighted down with snow shielded some kind of crevice. At first he had thought it was just a snow bank, but closer inspection revealed a crack in the rock of the hill large enough for him to squeeze through.
He sucked in his stomach and wedged himself through the narrow crack. He was surprised to find that he was out of breath after his brief struggle. Even his heightened strength was beginning to fail him. He lay down on the packed dirt of the burrow-like cave and curled himself into a ball, shivering violently.
Cold, empty, darkness closed in on him and he surrendered to it, hoping that somewhere within it he would find warmth.
* * *
Hotohori jerked his head up from the mirror and jerked his mind away from his thoughts. A terrible chill had invaded the room, and for a moment he saw a dark cave and a white expanse of snow superimposed over the room in which he, Chichiri, Tasuki, and Nuriko were staying, and he saw Nuriko, curled up in a cold, still ball.
The chill faded, but as it did it was replaced by a feeling of dread that was even colder. He got up from the table that (for him) doubled as a vanity and hurried into the common room.
"Where's Nuriko?" he asked to the room at large. Miaka and the seishi looked at him blankly.
"I thought he was in your room, taking a nap or something," Tamahome said slowly. The rest of the seishi sitting on the benches around the fire nodded their agreement. They had assumed the same.
"Nuriko? Well he was my drinking buddy for a bit but then he left," Tasuki said from the bar, too drunk by now to be really worried.
"Where did he go?" Hotohori questioned him, starting to feel frantic. If the vision he'd had was some kind of message from Nuriko then they had to find him fast.
"Excuse me, sirs but would you mean the purple haired sir?" said a scruffy boy of about 12 from behind the bar.
"Yes, that's him. Do you know where he went?" Hotohori said, putting on a thin fa�ade of calm so as not to scare the boy.
"He headed off toward the forest on a walk, sir. Said he needed to stretch his legs," the boy said eyes downcast out of respect. Before the boy even looked back up Hotohori had grabbed his coat and gone into his room for supplies
The second he was inside he gabbed a pack from below the bed. Inside it he put a thick woolen blanket and a flint and tinder, hoping that somewhere outside there was still some wood dry enough to light a fire, however small. He rushed back to the door intending to leave immediately, knowing full well that the matter was urgent.
As he reached his hand out to grasp the crude knob, the door was thrown open. Momentarily frozen with surprise, which was not helped by the adrenaline pumping through his system he simply stood in the doorway. Chichiri and Tasuki, the ones entering the room, crashed right into him, not having expected that he would be standing right in the doorway.
"Where the f**k d'ya think you're going? There's a f**king blizzard going on out there! You're gonna f**king go out there BY YOURSELF!" Tasuki ranted, heedless of the fact that he had almost knocked over the emperor of Konan and heedless of the fact that this was exactly the course of action he would have taken in Hotohori's position. He continued to rant at him as Hotohori pushed past Chichiri and Tasuki and headed for the door out of the inn. Chichiri had grasped the fiery seishi firmly by the upper arm at the start of his rant and he held him firmly now as Tasuki attempted to stop the emperor from leaving the inn.
The other seishi tried halfheartedly to stand in Hotohori's way but he took no notice of them as he pushed past them as he had Tasuki. Hotohori was beyond thinking of anything besides Nuriko and the delicate seishi's predicament. He would have been surprised at his single-mindedness if he weren't occupied with obtaining a horse. He fairly dragged his stallion out of its stall and jumped onto it without bothering to have it saddled. The other seishi burst out of the inn just in time to see him gallop away toward the forest, bundle tightly clasped in one arm and hair flying out behind him.
"He's going to get himself killed too! We need to go after him!" Tamahome said, starting toward the stables with the remaining seishi, excepting Chichiri, in tow.
"'Chiri, aren't you f**king coming?!" Tasuki shouted, noting that Chichiri stood in the doorway to the inn, immobile.
"Nuriko didn't call for our help, he called for Hotohori's. I have faith in my fellow seishi and believe that Nuriko and Hotohori can handle this on their own," Chichiri said, removing his smiling mask as befit the seriousness of the situation. The other seishi looked at him incredulously.
"Even if he called to Hotohori and not the rest of us we should still help him! He's our friend! Miaka said hanging onto Chichiri's arm, pleading with him. The more rational of the seishi appeared to be wavering. (More rational as in everyone but Tasuki, and possibly Tamahome. It's a testosterone thing.)
"F**k, Chichiri I can't believe you don't wanta help him! Nuriko's f**king in trouble and you don't wanna help him!" Tasuki shouted, his symbol flashing beneath the cuff of his jacket.
"Nuriko's soul is calling Hotohori directly to his location. For all of us to go searching blindly for him would serve no purpose and would risk our lives needlessly," Chichiri responded, logically. He turned and went back inside without waiting for a reply. Chiriko and Mitsukake hesitated then followed dejectedly. The logic of the situation had shown them the light but only after violently ripping their eyes open. They were not inclined to like "the light."
"F**k! What the f**k are you doing?"
"He's right. This blizzard could kill us all, and Nuriko wouldn't want that. He's alive and Hotohori can make sure that he's well," Mitsukake said as he went into the inn. Tasuki seemed about the do something violent but Tamahome nudged him and headed inside as well, Miaka reluctantly following. He stood in the thigh deep snow shivering and cursing vehemently before heading in as well. To say that he did so reluctantly would be the understatement of the century.
~*~*~
Part 2
Hotohori forced his horse to keep galloping for as long as he could. The snow was thigh deep on a human, once they got into the forest and the horse simply could not move through it with any semblance of speed, even if he'd been willing to kill the animal trying. As for his method of searching, there was none. A search didn't seem to be necessary. The farther into the woods he went the more sure he was that he was going in the right direction.
In less than 15 minutes he had reached the cave entrance, shielded from most of the falling snow by pine branches. Upon seeing it he came out of whatever trance he had been in and eyed the crack dubiously. He was considerably larger than Nuriko and knew he would have trouble getting into the cave.
He dismounted with much difficulty and tied his horse to a tree, petting its neck absently to calm them both. He trudged through the snow with his bundle and peered into the cave. Inside, Nuriko lay curled into a loose ball, his hair straggly and laced with icicles, his face paler than Hotohori had ever seen it. His lips were tinged wiht blue.
Panic greeted this observation and he set about trying to shove himself through the crack and into the burrow-like cave beyond it. He was panting heavily, his arms and sides covered with scratches, by the time he managed to get inside.
He had long ago given up the idea of a fire, but the blanket was the warmest he had. Hopefully it would do.
He took it out of the pack, making sure it wasn't damp before carefully setting it aside. He looked at Nuriko and hesitated. He had enough common sense to know that he couldn't just throw the blanket over him as he was and expect it to have any effect. Nuriko's clothes were soaked. He would have to strip him and THEN put on the blanket.
<If my advisors knew what I am about to do.> But he pushed the thought out of his mind before he could complete it.
Hotohori rolled Nuriko onto his back and began to remove his icy clothes tuning all other thoughts out. When he was finished he carefully wrapped the smaller seishi in the blanket, pulling Nuriko into his arms when he was fully covered without even thinking about it. The professional air that had resided in him while he was undressing Nuriko fled while he held him in his arms, content not to go anywhere for awhile. He knew Nuriko would be okay and that was all he needed to be happy right now,
Without even realizing the extent of his exhaustion, sleep claimed him, pulling him into welcome darkness. Silence reigned in the cave once more.
* * *
Nuriko woke up slowly, gaining feeling and control of his limbs and mind. The numbing cold he remembered was somewhat abated, although a trace of it still remained, sunk deep into his bones. He shifted slightly, but did not open his eyes. He grabbed the thick blanket he found himself wrapped in and attempted to pull it more tightly around himself.
At his movement something shifted underneath him, and he thought he felt arms around him. He lifted his head in an effort to find out who he was lying on. And who had their arms around him. They were presumably the same person but he didn't remember coming across ANYONE. He shifted some more and almost bolted out of the cave.
<Oh my God, I'm NAKED!!! What in hell happened to me?!>
He was downright scared now but didn't want to wake the stranger in case they were dangerous. He would much prefer quietly slipping away to fighting in his birthday suit. He was also trying to break free of the deer-in-headlights mentality.
Before he could decide what course of action to take and when, his living mattress began lurching madly, the unseen mouth erupting in a furious coughing fit. Nuriko noted that the coughs didn't sound too good; quite phlegmy. He tensed as the person groaned, wrapping their arms more tightly around him as they woke up. He tried not to move, although the cough and groan had sounded somehow familiar. <How can a cough sound familiar? Do I know some one who has chronic phlegmy asthma?>
The person settled Nuriko against his chest and body as a whole, preparing to go back to sleep. Nuriko suddenly felt a tickle in his nose. <No! I can't sneeze now! It will alert the possible psychopath!> The tickle persisted, his nose twitching, needing to purge the offending particle. His hand twitched, now wanting to rub his nose or prepare for the coming explosion.<Great! Maybe the psychopath will lend me a handkerchief,> he thought slightly bitterly, just before-
"ACHOO!" He froze.
"Nuriko?" <Wait, that kinda sounds like.>
"Hotohori?" He just managed to choke out his name before the cold air of the pseudo cave caused him to cough a few times himself.
"Are you alright now? Are you warm enough?" Hotohori asked, sounding concerned and sleepy. His breath tickled Nuriko's ear and neck but he tried to ignore it.
"Um. yeah, but what are you- I mean WE- doing like this?" He asked, going pink at the thought of his condition.
"You were freezing to death, so I came to save you," Hotohori said matter- of-factly. He had an odd quality to his voice, strangely thick, making the words sound slightly slurred.
"Oh," he replied, surprised at Hotohori's statement and tone and puzzled by the odd thickness. <Crying?...No. Sleepiness? Could be, but I don't think so.> Hotohori turned his head to the side and coughed wretchedly for several long moments. At the start Nuriko had been concerned, but by the end of the fit fear seized him once again. <He's sick! It's my fault! What if he has pneumonia! He could die!> His thoughts raced through his mind, disjointed, and jumbled.
"Do you have a blanket?" Nuriko asked, several minutes after Hotohori's bout of phlegmy coughing.
"I have my coat," he replied. "You shouldn't be worrying about me."
Nuriko pulled the blanket around his shoulders securely, holding the top in his hands, and rolled off Hotohori's lap. The emperor was too surprised by the sudden motion to react before Nuriko had raised himself into a sitting position beside him. Nuriko gave Hotohori a stern.
"You could freeze to death just as easily as I could've," Nuriko said, looking the younger man in the eye. Hotohori looked back at him, face impassive despite his slight shivering.
"We should share the blanket, or you'll get pneumonia," Nuriko persisted, inching closer and punching the blanket lightly to emphasize his point. Hotohori leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, jaw set, looking like a stubborn child who didn't want to go to bed.
Nuriko was over his embarrassment, now becoming annoyed. Had he been standing he would have tapped his foot in impatient mother fashion.
"If you get pneumonia and die what will Konan do? You're willing to sacrifice your life and your country for modesty?" <Ooh. That was sharper than I intended.>
But it did the trick. Hotohori meticulously examined his clothes to see what he would have to remove. <Damn,> he thought. His pants were soaked from the knee down and there was no denying that they would have to come off. He took scant comfort in the fact that his knee-length orange tunic was dry enough to stay on. The fact that Nuriko wasn't wearing ANYTHING kept intruding and ruining the effect. <Oh, Suzaku! Stall! Stall!>
"Um, I think I'll go see if there's any wood we can use to start a fire," he said quickly, squeezing through the opening of the small round cave before Nuriko could get an argument together. <I'm not just stalling, really,> he thought defensively. Their clothes would only turn into textile ice cubes if they had no warmth, and warmth meant fire.
He tied his coat into the rim of his pants so he wouldn't have to remove that as well and commenced his small search, all the while reflecting on the situation that he had temporarily escaped. <SHARE the blanket with him. He must still love me. I thought he was going to act like a man now.>
If he hadn't been so well schooled in never revealing his emotions he would have blushed when Nuriko suggested they share the blanket. Even after seeing him in man's clothes every day and even after seeing him bare chested this very afternoon, his mind still insisted on classifying Nuriko as a woman. <And sharing a blanket with a naked woman, especially when you are only half clothed yourself! It's dishonorable, unthinkable. And when I go back into that cave, I have to do it.>
But he had no choice. He could feel the hypothermia and pneumonia sneaking up on him; slowly creeping up on him. <My body heat will make Nuriko much warmer. He'll be far out of danger then.> He focused on that thought, on the benefit to Nuriko's health. That made it slightly more honorable.
<But it IS justified! Two close friends sharing warmth to save each other's lives. If that's not justified I don't know what is!> That was what he needed to do. He needed to think of Nuriko like he thought of Tamahome or Chichiri; a close MALE friend. It was ridiculous to balk at spending time alone with Nuriko. Nuriko wouldn't be ruined for marriage and no one would question his reputation.
With his conscience slightly more assured, he returned to the cave entrance and began to force his way inside. <Suzaku must have aided my last, hasty passage through this cursed crack. It's taken me ages every other time- including this one.> With that last thought he pulled his body through into the pseudo-cave. A strange sight greeted him there, although he could hardly see due to the sudden change in lighting.
Nuriko was digging furiously with one hand while the other held the blanket around him. Hotohori flinched. <Those delicate hands should not be used for such work.> He sat and watched the other seishi for a bit in order to ascertain why he was digging, but he couldn't even begin to guess. Nuriko would dig for a bit, then pull on something Hotohori couldn't see from this angle, then start digging again.
Nuriko was so consumed that he didn't notice Hotohori was there until he had managed to pull the unseen object free and turned around to place it on the ground behind him. The thing was, in fact, a very twisted knobbly root. Looking beyond Nuriko he saw a sizeable hole from which more of the root jutted out of the dirt. Hotohori blinked.
"Roots?" he questioned.
Nuriko only nodded quickly, trying to hide and recover from his surprise at Hotohori's sudden presence.
"I doubted you would find anything out there that would burn," he jerked his head toward the thin sliver of light that was the entrance. "So I looked around here for something and found this root. I'll pull out more of it, and we can have a little fire, at least."
Hotohori nodded and slowly reached for the root, eyes blank. It was dry. It would burn. <Nuriko is amazing.> The thought broke into his head and he nodded in acknowledgement of it. Nuriko never ceased to amaze him, even though he'd known him for so long. <Well, in a way,> he amended. His thoughts meandered for a bit, becoming less and less focused. The form of Nuriko, who had gone back to digging, swam before his eyes as if the whole world was swaying gently, like a moored rowboat.
In his last conscious moment, he reached forward and grasped Nuriko's digging hand in his own. As his consciousness faded he thought <Not for such work. He could hurt it.>
~*~*~
Part 3
"Hotohori? Hotohori!" Nuriko caught him as he slumped forward, the blanket slipping from around his slim shoulders. He paid it no mind as he pushed the emperor into a sitting position, his hands still on his shoulders.
"Hotohori, what's wrong? What happened?" He questioned as he shook Hotohori's limp form, gently. His head simply lolled from side to side and Nuriko began to panic. Nuriko put one hand on each of their foreheads to compare temperatures. Both of them seemed to be burning up, but Hotohori was being consumed by much more eager flames. <What do I do? What do I do?> he thought frantically.
<First I need to calm down. It won't help anyone to panic. Or to continue panicking, at least. I was in this same situation about an hour or two ago and now I'm pretty much okay. I need to get him out of his wet clothes.> He blushed furiously as he looked down at Hotohori, whom he was STILL holding upright.
He hesitated, picturing how Hotohori would react to waking up naked. A prick of fear stabbed into his heart. <He would never understand. He would think that I... But his life is in danger. There's no room for modesty!>
Feeling more resolute, Nuriko began checking the emperor's clothes, as Hotohori himself had done earlier. He found the same thing that Hotohori had: only his pants would need to be removed, so he wouldn't have to undress him completely.
Nuriko laid Hotohori on his back with the blanket spread out beneath him, ignoring his own nakedness for now. With shaking hands, he pulled up the emperor's long tunic, after unwinding it from his belt, revealing Hotohori's toned abs. <Argh! Don't think about that! His life is on the line, this is no time to be looking him over!> He hastily removed his fellow seishi's pants, keeping his mind deliberately blank. After he was done he practically threw the blanket around Hotohori and turned away from him.
He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to relax. <I had no idea how tense I was. Man that was stressful! I hope I never have to do that again.> He turned to look at Hotohori, Nuriko's pained look softening immediately. <Never mind. If I had to do it again to save his life, I would. I would do anything for him.>
After the thought faded from his mind he came to a realization that, under the circumstances, shouldn't have taken him that long to come to. <It is Really, REALLY COLD!>
Shortly after that he came to another realization. <I'm still naked and have absolutely no way to cover myself.>
Then came yet another realization. <I really need a fire.> The realizations ended there as he turned back to the hole he had been digging and set to work with all his strength.
For the next half hour he pulled and dug, pulled and dug, slowly building up the pile of roots. When it looked like he had enough for a small fire that could, with prudence, last for a few hours or so, he allowed himself to stop, pick the dirt out of his nails, and start to set up the fire. He put down some small pieces to start things up, wishing he had some dry leaves or paper to help it catch more quickly. Smoke would also be a problem, he thought.
With an annoyed sound from the back of his throat, Nuriko picked up the beginnings of the fire and moved the haphazard pile closer to the entrance. He realized that he didn't know where Hotohori's flint and tinder were, or if he had even brought them. He ignored propriety yet again as he went through Hotohori's bag, although it was empty except for the flint ans tinder so all he really did was reach in and remove them.
Relief washed over him as the fire's warm glow soon filled the small cave. <Finally a little luck. And warmth.>
Despite the warmth every single hair on his body stood on end, each one accompanied by a small goosebump. His skin stung where the fire's heat touched it but he forced himself to stay close to it, turning occasionally like a rotisserie chicken in slow motion. The air was so cold it made him cough several times. It soon became apparent that sitting in front of the meager fire naked was only going to worsen his fevered condition. <The blanket is the only way I guess.>
The blanket. The blanket that Hotohori now occupied. While being half- naked. While HE was COMPLETELY naked. <This will NOT go over well. But I can explain it to him when he wakes up. I'll make sure he understands that it was for survival only. It's not like he's a close-minded kind of person, anyway. He'll understand.> Nuriko remembered how Hotohori had been holding him when he first woke up, which had no doubt warmed him considerably, and was even more positive that his fellow seishi would understand the situation.
He dragged the blanket and its occupant closer to the fire and, keeping in as much heat as possible, climbed into it. He turned himself away from Hotohori so they were back-to-back and tucked the blanket around them tightly.
Though he had intended to remain vigilant until Hotohori woke up, he soon sailed off to the Land of Nod.
* * * *
Nuriko woke up several hours later feeling blissfully warm. Wondering absently why he had woken up in the first place when he was so warm and comfortable, he pulled the blankets down to his chin and looked around. It didn't take him long to realize what was wrong. The fire had gone out and the cave was being filled with an uncomfortable amount of smoke.
<I should put more wood on: light it up again. But I'm so warm and comfortable. Urgh, damn!> He sighed and peeled away the blanket then rose, dashed to the fire, and set to work trying to get some fresh wood to light. By the time he was done and the fire burned well, Nuriko was once again chilled to the bone. He rushed back to the blanket to finds that Hotohori had turned over in his sleep, and wrapped the blanket around himself. <Aww, he's so cute.>
Nuriko reluctantly pulled the blankets from Hotohori's grasp and climbed in, turning so they remained back-to-back. He'd given up trying to stay awake, so he settled down and closed his eyes, preparing for sleep. But then something completely unexpected happened:
Hotohori turned over in his sleep and wrapped his arms around Nuriko, gently but firmly. His eyes flew open, and for a moment he remained frozen like a deer in headlights. <My, this is awkward. Um. I'll just move him, slowly,> he thought, feeling like he had a full-body blush as he began to attempt liberation of his arm. His plan was thwarted, however, when his movement resulted in Hotohori pulling him closer and putting his face in the groove formed between Nuriko's neck and shoulder. <Urgh. This isn't going to work, is it? Maybe. maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should just stay like this. It's all the love I'll ever get from him. All the love I'll ever get.>
Despite having told him himself he was over Hotohori; that he really wanted to start acting like a man and therefore, would stop liking men-or A man- it would never be true. He'd relinquished his female alter-ego, but he would never be able to just GIVE UP Hotohori. It couldn't be done.
As familiar tears began to leak from the corners of his violet eyes he turned around and buried his face in Hotohori's shirt. <As long as he's sleeping, I can have just a little of his love, even if he thinks he's holding some one else.> A part of his mind told him he was taking advantage of Hotohori, who had given no invitation for Nuriko himself to lie in his arms; that if Hotohori were awake he wouldn't have done it, but he ignored it. He continued to muffle his sobs in Hotohori's chest.
The emperor's arms slackened momentarily, then tightened again and Nuriko became vaguely aware of a gentle hand on his hair.
Part 4
Hotohori had awakened just a few moments earlier to what was possibly the most heart-breaking sound he had ever heard: the sound of the strongest, yet the most fragile of the Suzaku seishi sobbing quietly but brokenly into his tunic. Finding his arms were already holding Nuriko he held him closer, placing a hand on his lovely violet hair in an attempt to soothe him.
"Nuriko. What's wrong?" he murmured, his hand moving soft purple strands aside so he could see the other seishi's face.
Nuriko quickly ducked his head from view and moved out of Hotohori's embrace, eyes wide with horror and embarrassment. Despite his efforts to control the tears leaking from his eyes, they started to flow more freely. He was sure he would receive no more comfort from the emperor.
But he barely had time to complete that thought before he was wrapped in his fellow seishi's arms once again. Hotohori held Nuriko to his chest and his arm rubbed Nuriko's back comfortingly.
"What's wrong Nuriko? Are you worried about the storm?" Hotohori asked the question, but doubted that answer would be yes. He could tell that wasn't it but didn't know what could possibly be bothering him. Nuriko was always so cheerful.
When the fey seishi remained silent he sighed deeply, and continued comforting Nuriko without questions. He used his voice only for comforting words and ran his hand through his purple hair. <His hair is so soft, and his skin. He's so warm.>
Nuriko had stopped crying and lay still, his head cushioned on Hotohori's shoulder. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell of his tunic, marveling at how warm and safe he felt with these strong arms around him, even though the blizzard had begun to pick up again.
The emperor looked down at the man in his arms affectionately and continued to stroke his hair. He wondered if Nuriko was asleep. He looked so beautiful and serene. All trace of tears was gone now and a sleepy smile graced the smaller man's lips. Without thought or hesitation he bent his head and placed a gentle kiss on those smiling lips. Nuriko's eyes flew open an he made a small sound of surprise, but the arms around him prevented him from scrambling away out of pure shock (a fact he will undoubtedly be happy about when he looks back on this someday). Hotohori was also surprised but his mind was too fuzzy to register anything but the sensation of his lips against the purple haired seishi's.
After a long moment, in which neither of them made any move to break away or to deepen the kiss, both men opened their eyes and pulled away. Each face held an identical expression of complete and utter shock. For another long moment they simply stared at each other, their brains frantically trying to process what had just happen. Then Hotohori dredged up the presence of mind to speak.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I shouldn't have- you just looked so." he trailed off, eyes downcast unable to finish his sentence.
"It's okay. You... I know you didn't mean it," Nuriko replied, feeling his eyes getting wet again. He had NEVER thought Hotohori would do something like that outside of his dreams, but of course, he wanted to take it back. <How COULD he have meant it?>
Nuriko refused to cry this time, but couldn't bear to look at the face before him, couldn't bear the expression it might hold. He buried his face in the blanket and concentrated with all his will on breathing deeply. When he felt a hand on his shoulder he jerked away, nearly tearing the blanket off of him, reminding him of what was outside the blanket and the tiny cave the two of them sheltered in. The knowledge of his restriction was not welcomed. His tears came forth, try as he might to force them back, and he was not alone.
Hotohori had begun crying himself, unable to stand the sudden and inescapable knowledge that HE was the cause of these tears; that ever since he had first met Lady Kourin, that ever since she had first entered the harem, he and he alone had been the cause of her, and his suffering.
"I'm so sorry. Please, Nuriko, stop crying. I never meant to hurt you," the emperor pleaded with him as he embraced Nuriko's slim and shaking shoulders. "Please. I'm sorry. Everything I've done to you-"
"What do you mean, Hotohori-sama?" the violet haired seishi asked quietly. He removed his head from the blanket, sure that he looked like Hell. His eyes stung, his face tingled from crying, and his tears were finally beginning to run dry.
"I'm sorry for not even glancing at you, for rejecting you, for not realizing how much it hurt you. Please, please forgive me." Hotohori begged as his hand resumed its place just under Nuriko's shoulder blade and he put his cheek on the top his violet-haired head, marveling at the softness of this beautiful man's hair and skin, while tears of apology still dripped from his eyes.
"Can you forgive me?" he whispered into the violet hair.
"Of course I do," Nuriko answered somewhat breathlessly, amazed at the turn of events. Then his eyes widened. "Ano. Hotohori, what are you doing?"
The younger man had somehow gone from resting his cheek on Nuriko's soft hair to brushing his lips against it, to gently kissing the top of his head.
"You're so beautiful," Hotohori whispered, his hand moving in circular patterns on the smaller man's back, while his other hand entwined itself in Nuriko's hair, undoing his long braid and watching his hair fall on his shoulders in waves.
"I think I always loved you, but I couldn't admit it to myself. I thought I loved Miaka. I thought only the Priestess could ease my loneliness. I didn't see the love that was right in front of my eyes."
"I know," he found himself saying, surprised that he could find a voice to speak after his love's admission. "I love you too."
He put his arms around Hotohori's neck and buried his face in the other man's shirt once again, breathing in the smell of it. The scent of HIM. <He loves me. He always loved me.> It was all he could do to hold back new tears of joy.
That was quickly driven from his mind as he realized that Hotohori had gone back to kissing his hair and had one of his hands around his waist, while the other was at the base of his neck, tracing patterns lightly with his fingers. Nuriko shivered, whether out of ticklishness or pleasure he didn't know.
Hotohori had just begun to consider moving his kisses to Nuriko's neck and shoulders when he felt his fellow seishi shiver. Seconds afterward the fire went out. <Perfect timing as usual Suzaku,> he thought sarcastically, as he reluctantly released his newly appointed true love and got out of the blanket to rekindle the fire. The smaller man was about to protest but decided against it. Given their situation, he reflected, it was fire or freeze.
As he rekindled the remains of the fire with the aid of some fresh root, he watched Nuriko out of the corner of his eye. The flashes of smooth ivory skin revealed when he had climbed from the blanket had not escaped his attention and he wondered if the sudden heat was due to the now brightly burning fire or to thoughts of the purple haired seishi.
He made his way back to the blanket and slid in beside Nuriko, who once again appeared to be feigning sleep. <Hm, I can't let him get away with that, can I?> Hotohori decided that he would tease Nuriko a little. A voice deep inside told him that was an inappropriate thing for an emperor to do, but another voice, which had only recently surfaced told the other voice to bugger off. Unrequited love was something Hotohori was very familiar with, the second voice went on, but the feeling of mutual love had the emperor giddy. The first voice reluctantly agreed that under the circumstances it guessed it was okay and they both shut up so Hotohori could get on with it.
He settled in beside his purple-haired companion and closed his eyes with a sigh, as if he were falling asleep. For many long moments, nothing moved except time. Then Hotohori groaned "In his sleep" and rolled over, throwing an arm and a leg over Nuriko and cuddling up close to him. The body now mostly under his tensed considerably and he fought down a laugh.
Nuriko carefully moved his arm and leg off of him and moved away cautiously, hesitantly, as if unsure he wanted to do so. Hotohori murmured something incomprehensible (even to him) and rolled over to face away from Nuriko- dragging half the blanket with him.
"Eep!" Nuriko gave a small squeal and made a grab for the blanket. It was at this point, while the smaller seishi was completely exposed and reaching toward him, that he decided to "awake."
Hotohori rolled onto his back and opened his eyes, pretending he was oblivious to his previous actions. He looked at Nuriko in feigned shock, while a part of him (which was getting increasingly more insistent) grinned hugely at the spectacular view.
"Nuriko, you shouldn't have gotten out of the blanket; you'll get sick!" the emperor mock admonished him.
"But- you're the one who ripped the blanket off of me in the first place! I was just trying to get back in," Nuriko replied defensively, blushing crimson all over his body (which didn't escape Hotohori's attention).
"No," Hotohori denied, faking confusion. "Why would I do something like that?" he asked, deliberately focusing on Nuriko's face, a feat he was finding to be increasingly difficult given the other seishi's lack of coverage.
"You were dreaming or something, I guess," Nuriko said, getting increasingly flustered and confused. <Oh, I wish he would just let it go. I'm going to melt into a puddle of embarrassment if this goes on much longer.>
"But Nuriko, I wasn't dreaming nor was I asleep, so why on Earth would I do that? You must just be mistaken," Hotohori said, as he turned his head away haughtily and watched Nuriko out of the corner of his eye. It took several seconds for Nuriko to fully absorb his statement.
"How should I know why you- you...you weren't..." he trailed off as his mouth fell open and he stared at his emperor, beyond shocked at the uncharacteristic behavior.
Long before the purple-haired seishi could formulate a proper response, Hotohori scooted over to him, shirt hem trailing behind him and wrapped the blanket around Nuriko's shoulders then joined him beneath the blanket. Soon Hotohori grew tired of simply sitting next to his purple haired beauty and scooped Nuriko into his lap once again enfolding him in comforting arms.
"Why did you do that?" Nuriko asked, still confused and a little angry at being tricked for no reason.
"You were pretending to be asleep, and I decided to return the favor," Hotohori whispered into his ear.
"You didn't mean it did you?" Nuriko whispered suddenly. Hotohori grasped his chin and gently turned his face towards him. He then leaned forward and kissed Nuriko full on the lips, a little more firmly than he had before, holding the kiss for longer than he had before. He didn't pull away until he was completely breathless.
"Yes, I did. I've meant everything that I've said and done today. I love you. Never doubt that," the young emperor said slowly, emphasizing the words to leave no room for misunderstanding or the doubt that Nuriko seemed so prone to.
Nuriko's eyes started to water again but he ignored as he leaned forward and kissed Hotohori, the one who had been his beloved since he first laid eyes on him. The kiss deepened as Nuriko turned in Hotohori's lap and they wrapped their arms around each other more tightly tasting the sweetness of each, oblivious to the rest of the world.
* * *
Tasuki sat at the bar with a full mug in his hand. It was an alcoholic beverage, the fiery seishi's primary source of relaxation. For once in his life, it held no appeal for him.
When they'd all walked back into the inn, as opposed to getting their horses ready and GOING AFTER THEIR FRIENDS, he hadn't been too happy about it, but he'd gone along (albeit kicking and screaming). A small part of his mind had noticed that Chichiri had a point.
Now, whether he had a point or not the fact remained that it had been SIX HOURS since Hotohori had gone tearing out of the inn like a bat out of hell and he still hadn't returned with Nuriko. Granted they had not felt either of them die, but after six hours in a blizzard what condition could they possibly be in?
As a result of the tension thinking about this had caused him, he had become restless. Too restless to even drink his damn ale and get smashed. All he could do was mutter into the amber liquid and stew. All he could do was get tenser and tenser until his temper snapped like a taut bowstring. It wouldn't be long now.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and. GO!
"What the F**k are we F**KING still waiting for? We tried your way and they still ain't back yet! Now it's time to F**KING get our S**T together and go find 'em!" Tasuki burst out, brandishing his tessen and stabbing at the air to emphasize his point and, hopefully, to intimidate the other seishi into compliance. He heard a sigh from Chichiri's direction, but before he could whirl around and beat some sense into the older man, Chichiri jumped to his feet and removed his mask. Since this was only done in very grave situations the room fell silent, the remaining seishi waiting for what he had to say.
"Let's go after them. I've managed to identify the presence of their chi, weak as it is, so we'll be able to go directly to them," Chichiri stated, voice lower than usual, speech pattern conspicuously absent in the serious phrases. All this grimness was naturally completely lost on Tasuki who began bellowing as soon as Chichiri had finished.
"About f**king time!" he shouted, irked that Chichiri had told no one about his attempts to locate Nuriko and Hotohori's chi, as he hadn't known the monk had actually been DOING something as opposed to just waiting.
"For once, I am inclined to agree with Tasuki," Chiriko said.
"Yes," Mitsukake seconded. "About f**king time," he said calmly.
Everyone became VERY busy preparing for the short but arduous trek through the four feet of snow.
Epilogue
Tasuki was once again at the bar, mug of ale firmly back in his hands, appealing ot him once again. He was trying to get drunk even harder than usual and ale was instrumental to the plan.
He was trying to get drunk so he could forget the images of Nuriko and Hotohori when he had foolishly charged into the cave to rescue them. Ahead of the rest of the seishi. Against the advice of both Chichiri and Mitsukake.
He'd learned his lesson now. Next time he would listen to their advice. Until then he would drink until he couldn't sit on his barstool anymore.
Then maybe he could forget the image of Nuriko and Hotohori, kissing passionately and writhing against each other, all that pale skin bared to- No! No more!
He took another drink. This was going to be harder than he'd thought.