| Chapter # 2 |
| "It's been soo long Genrou!!" yelled a man with deep blue hair "Tooo long!!! what have I missed??" asked Tasuki impatiently "Ohh, Genrou, a lot changed while you were gone, we have some new apprentices, ton's more land, and more food and sake than you could handle, buddy!!" replied the blue haired man "Gen-rou...?" Chichiri quietly mumbled to himself... He had never known his flaming friend to have any other name than his seishi given one. 'Genrou must be his REAL name then...' he thought. Chichiri sighed at the sight before him... the more they walked, the more distant Tasuki became to him. he watched as the two interacted with one another. They were soo close, as if they had never been apart. A small chill of jealousy ran through his stomach making him feel weak and stagger... 'I knew I would end up alone, I will never be forgiven for my past, will I Suzaku? Am I destined to live a life of solitude? to lose everything or anything I may hold close? why?' he looked solemnly to the stars above, his good eye straining to focus and take in the constellations. Finally satisfied with being filled in on what had happened in his absence, Tasuki remembered to look back and check on Chichiri. The sight he found wasn't pleasant, The older young man had stopped back on the trail. He just stared up into the star lit sky, which in turn illuminated his masculin features, butt also allowed Tasuki to see a glint of light come off a single tear trailing off his good eye. The scene was upsetting to him... He couldn't answer why he felt so deeply sorry for him, but he did know that he would make his new goal to find out not only why he felt this way, but why his older seishi looked so upset without the mask. "Kouji, hurry up ahead and set the table! We haven't had anything to eat for hours!! I'm starved!" "Why don't you just come with me, I mean, we haven't seen each other in so long Gen-chan." remarked Kouji. "Well, Chichiri is probably weak from his magic use, and I don't want to strain him by quickening the pace, he's already trailing behind! So just go! and have the sake out!!" Reluctantly, Kouji ran off ahead to begin the preparations for Genrou's return.. 'Gen-chan' the nickname echoed in his mind... Is there something between them no da?' Chichiri's daydream was cut short by a sudden unexpected impact! "What is going on in there anyway? how can someone possibly think THAT much?" he repeated as he once again gave Chichiri a hearty pat on the back. Completely caught by surprise, Chichiri began to chant, quickly creating a new mask before his reply, "Well, uhh, I was just looking at the stars no da! they sure are bright tonight no da!" his tone became light and bouncy, reflecting none of the emotions he had just been through, a well practiced method of hiding his feelings, many years in the making. Sensing some hidden pain in his fellow seishi warrior, he decided not to bring anything up just yet."Ohh, well, we have to get back if we want something to eat, I'll set you up with something to sleep on tonight until we can make some perminant arrangements, so lets go!!" 'And I'm afraid that mask will have to go!' he thought to himself as he picked up their pace towards the hideout. ____________________________________________________________________________ "What could he possibly be thinking???? taking that other guy here, HERE! of all places... It wasn't bad enough that he left for so long, without any proper goodbyes, but when he returns, he brings one of them with him!!" Kouji mumbled as he fixed a table. It wasn't that he resented the fact that Genrou left him, as a matter of fact, he had actually told Genrou to go, he only wanted what he knew Genrou did. He had spent time out of every day praying for Suzaku to keep him safe, and he had waited patiently for the day he would once again return... But he always disappeared like this without warning... He never felt it necessary to give notice, not even to those who care about him. "For gods sake Genrou!! we've known each other since we were kids!! we joined the bandits together when we lost our families, all we had was each other... but now, you have that suzaku warrior," he slammed a fist on the table in frustration "and all I have ever had was you!" he fought off the tears, finally realizing how his emotions had gotten the better of him. Using the table as a brace, he recomposed himself, shrugging off what he just said, and focusing on the task at hand. Just then the large door burst open with a loud kackle followed by, "Honey, we're home!! Where's the food!" Tasuki kept right on laughing as he ran over to his buddy and started some mock punches. His sorrow faded away as he mock punched back, quickly dodging whatever Genrou had dealt out. "Call me honey again and I'll rip you a new one Gen-chan!" "Ohhhhhhhh, I'm sorry, HONEY! did I offend you??" Chichiri watched them tackle each other as he took a seat at the table. The sight only depressed him more. The only relationship he could think of recently like that was when he played around with Chiriko... "Chiriko... I'm so sorry.." he whispered reliving the final days before his untimely death. His heart ached as he wondered why it was he couldn't save the poor child from the magical grasp of the evil mage. memories swept by before he realized that everyone had stopped whatever they were doing to stare at him. "Wha-What's everyone lookin at no da?" he offered up, trying to look as happy as possible. "You said Chiriko!! I heard it--" "Yeah, whatever that is I heard it too, Genrou!" said Kouji "No, Well, you see I---" "Listen Chichiri," a sad look came over his face, the limited light making him look very concerned, "There was nothing any of us could do for those who sacrificed themselves... You have to understand that!" he began to tighten a fist under the table, only seen by Kouji, who knew this must be a painful situation. "But most of all, for their sake, you have to live on hapily! and stop being so--" he slammed the fist onto the table--"--SO DAMN MOPEY!!!" Suddenly Kouji realized... not all the warriors survived! For all he knew, this warrior with the light blue hair before him, could be the only survivor besides Genrou! He suddenly felt awful for being so selfish upon Genrou's return... He never even stopped to think about the hardships they must have faced, all he saw was his very own sorrow over the temporary loss of his---friend. He looked hesitantly at the light blue haired warrior across the table, his body language melencholy, 'yet his face... happy? no wait, was it a mask?' Finally Kouji cut the silence between them, "Genrou! how can you be so hard on the guy, I think you should let him get some rest!" he turned to Chichiri with a new found fondness now that the hatred had been irraticated, "You have to understand, He has a hard time accepting things like death. He always has after witnessing the death of his family and all." He shot a look back at Genrou, making sure he wasn't near tears at the mention of his family. "Here, you can take my room for the night." At the mention of his family, Tasuki sat down in utter silence... "Tasuki no da, I'm so sorry... I never knew---" "Don't worry about it Chiri," he exclaimed, suddenly looking as if none of the previous topic had ever happened, "Let's eat!" Forgetting his past worries, Chichiri put on a grin, took off his mask, and replied, "Yes, let's eat no da." Kouji couldn't help staring at Chichiri and the scar, 'that's why he wears a mask!! I wonder if he got that while they were trying to summon Suzaku??' Feeling very uncomfortable with the stare, Chichiri turned to the side a bit. 'I wish this wasn't so offensive to others... perhaps I should keep the mask on?' he subconceously reached for the mask when-- "I don't think so." Tasuki tried to yell with a mouth full of food. "Leave it off! I don't know why--" he swallowed, "--why you wear that thing anyway!" "Gomen!!" yelled Kouji as he suddenly realized why Chichiri suddenly felt so uncomfortable. "Gomen, Gomen, Chichiri" his bow nearly putting his face into his food. "No, it's quite alright no da! I just don't mean to offend any--" "Will you two just shut up and drink some sake!! It cures everything HA HAH AHA!" Kouji gave his friend a short glance, then turned to Chichiri, "You do realize he is completely drunk, right?" "Yeah, he looks it no da." he looked at Tasuki, who was now taking empty bowls and using them as hats and other things. His gaze was then interrupted by one of the other bandits entering through the large wooden door Tasuki had banged open before. "Kouji!! We couldn't clear out the boss's old room yet, can he take yours for the night?" he asked apologetically, "I promise it will be done by tomarrow afternoon though." "Uhh..." He thought, where would he put up Chichiri then? well, perhaps the two of them could room for the night. Genrou should be passed out anyway. 'yeah, sounds like a plan', "Well... Hey Chichiri, would you mind roomin with Genrou tonight? He'll be passed out by the time ya get there, but it's up to you." "No, that's fine with me no da, I'm used to dealing with him drunk no da." he responded, a chill running up his spine mid-sentence. "Well, now that this is settled, let's get some dessert!" blirted Tasuki. "Hurry it up, where is everyone anyway?" __________________________________________________________________________ The walk to their temporary room was a very interesting one for Chichiri, he looked on in a amazement as they walked through the beautifully layed out halls of the Bandit's hideout. As he walked through them, he could feel all of the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears put into the making of this small sanctuary. The walls were a gleaming white brought to life by the delicately painted maroon trim on each panel... The ceiling, too, immaculantly kept, and their pride almost sparkled in it. Beautifully sculpted pillars lined either side of them, marroon in shade, they complimented the beautiful trim of the walls. Each door was a thick wood, enhanced by the steel and bolts that kept it together, their overbearance added a feel of security to the already peacfull atmosphere. Perhaps it wasn't so much the structure that amazed him, but the presence he could feel within it that truly took his breath away. It felt good to learn more about his closest fellow seishi, 'I wish I could hear about the building of this place from his own memories no da... I'm sure at such a young age, he wasn't much help in his own eyes, but you can feel his seishi spirit fill every crevass of his mountain home.' The walk took them to a secluded part of the hideout, where Kouji ushered them through one of the Large thick doors that sealed it away from the rest of the beautiful structure. Once inside, Tasuki ran over, hopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. He tried to say something, but it was too slurred to be understood by either Kouji or Chichiri. Realizing his efforts were in vain, Tasuki gave up and began to drift off. "Ohh no you don't, not tonight!" muttered Kouji as he tried to push the sleeping bandit onto the futon he layed out on the floor. But Tasuki was just too heavy! "Damn it Genrou! If I knew you had gained that much weight, I wouldn't have fed ya so god damned much tonight!!" He finally gave up a few minutes later after Genrou gave him some punches and kicks in his sleep. "I'm sorry Chichiri, I meant for you to get the bed, being a guest and all, but if you know Genrou, you know he wouldn't wake up if the world was comming to an end." "Ohh, I don't mind at all no da! Let him sleep!" he glanced at the sleeping bandit. He looked so peaceful... Locks of flame red hair lay like silk down his perfect complection, his soft skin exposed to the cool night's air, he could see a faint shiver travel through his well muscled young body. "I'll be perfectly comfortable on the floor no da." He said as he walked towards the unbelieveably quiet Tasuki, then covered him, and tucked him into the large bed Kouji had been so kind as to lend. "Alright, I'll see ya in the morning, if you need anything, there's always someone up, just go back to the banquit hall." and with that, Kouji slipped through the large door, gently shutting it on his way out. 'Now what should I do??' Chichiri thought to himself. Being in the same room with the seishi bandit was hard enough, but sleeping next to him was much worse! 'But why? Why do I have such a hard time with this??? It's not like I am attracted to men, like Nuriko!! or... am I? NO! I'm not, that's absurd! ' while he wrestled with the thought, he negglected to notice that he was staring at the sleeping bandit full force with his good eye. Straining even, so that he could get a better look through the dark. 'Pull yourself together!' he thought as he noticed, and turned his attention elsewhere, ' You're not THAT way, and neither is he!' But his subconcious begged to differ!! The truth was, that he had dreamed of the attractive bandit for a long time now. To be honest, Tasuki actually dominated his thoughts, both at night, and during the day, but Chichiri couldn't, no, wouldn't admitt it to himself. His dreams lately were even harder to handle than the ones when he first met the attractive X-bandit. At first they were friendly, and normal, but the more they were together, the worse and more erotic they became for him. It was actually something he tended to lose sleep over more often than not!! "I can handle this... the lonelyness is just taking its toll on me no da." he whispered to himself for reassurance, then decided that he had better try and get some sleep while Tasuki was passed out. _____________________________________________________________________________ Having slept off most of the sake's effects, Tasuki sat up in the large comfortable bed to see what it was he had missed while he was out. He figured Kouji must've brought him in here after he passed out, something that used to happen so often it almost became a ritual before he left. 'Kouji...' he thought, 'God have I missed you!!' his thoughts quickly changing from his friend's smiling face, to a scene of pure eroticism. Kouji was his first, and only male partner, and after being away soo long, he yurned for what he had been missing. The touching, teasing, pain, and pleasure all brought about by his lover Kouji... Just the thought started off his arrousal, and he had the uncontroled urge to touch himself. He missed the heavy petting he recieved from his older, and more experienced friend. "Hell, forget the petting, I need pure sex, it has been way too long!!" he muttered, thinking of all the times the had snuck off to the hot springs to play their erotic little games. He never really took interest in girls, ever since he was little, he always associated them with trouble, and with the amount of sisters in his family, there was more than enough trouble to go around!! Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a faint moan from the side of the bed. 'What was that??' he thought, still feeling extreamly horney from all his memories, and afraid someone was spying, he peered over the side of the bed to see a very surprising sight!! A half nude Chichiri lay entangled in sheets on a futon beside him! "Whaa???" he bagan, but stopped when he realized the mage was fast asleep. 'Ohhh, He must have been roomed with me for the night.' he thought to himself, trying to calm down after the initial scare. He turned all his attention to the blue haired monk, completely entranced by what he saw... Tasuki admittingly had always found the older mage attractive somewhat, but the mask had always been a turn off, not to mention that the guy was always so secluded! But now, he was seeing his elder seishi in a whole new light entirely! With his mask off, Tasuki was able to study the muscular lines of his face, every feature enhanced by the moonlight that spilled in through a small window across from them. The moonlight highlighted his small muscular frame as Tasuki used his eyes to trace down his half exposed chest to his entirely exposed theighs and legs. To his surprise, besides his scarred face, the attractive Mage bore no other deformities over his entire figure. He was actually much sexier than Tasuki had ever imagined him being! 'I mean, he always wore such loose clothing, not to mention that Kesa! There was no way to know that such a perfect body lay hidden beneath!' "Ta-- Tasss---.... uhhhh .. mmm" mumbled Chichiri as he arched his back off the futon, muscles pulsing and rippling in what seemed to be... pleasure!?the motion entangling his muscular body yet even more into the sheets around him. Getting extreamly aroused by the sight, Tasuki began to feel a chill up his spine as he thought out loud, "He-- he's having an erotic dream!!" he watched small beads of sweat form on the monk's face as it seemed he battled not to reach full orgasm right there!! The shine from the sweat made him that much more erotic to watch, even the scar made him look sexier!! He had never thought that such a thing could make someone more attractive, but watching the older x-monk struggle in the futon was more of a turn on than Kouji had ever been! 'I can't believe I'm thinking this! He's not THAT way, and how could I just leave Kouji after all we have been through??' his erection began to fade with the thoughts of poor Kouji---until he again heard Chichiri cry out for more of whatever it was he was getting in his dream. The sight of the monk, and the moans of pleasure were too much for Tasuki to handle, and now with a full erection, he struggled to get out of the room before he did something he would later regret to the attractive fellow seishi! ____________________________________________________________________________ The next morning, Chichiri woke alone in what seemed like a small pool of sweat, completely entangled in his blanket, he actually had to work to get it untangled from his body... "Another one" he mumbled, "why do I keep having dreams like that no da??" embarassed, he got up and began to clear the small mess which was his futon. "I had better check on Tasuki-chan no---"wait!!! did he just use chan??!! He nearly fainted to the sound of his own voice saying chan after Tasuki!! He only used that suffix in his dreams, never in real life!! What would ever happen if he had said that in Tasuki's, or anyone ele's presence? 'it could be bad... real bad no da' still shaken by what he said, he tried desperately to forget about his dream, and forced himself to silently finish cleaning the futon off the tatami floor. _____________________________________________________________________ "Whoaa, what happened to you Genrou?? you normally sleep so well after a night of drinking, but now" Kouji gave a light chuckle, "now you look like something the cat dragged in!" The fanged wonder was quite a sight, he had spent the rest of the night in the banquit hall, trying to ward off his erotic thoughts about the blue haired monk down the hall. His hair was greasy and eratic, his eyes baring dark rings around them, and his posture mimicking that of a laborer who had just finished the hardest task of their lives! "Ahh shut of Kouji, what would you know anyway! I think I just need a well deserved dip in the hot springs." he shot Kouji a devilish, fanged grin, "don't you agree?" Kouji looked at him with no surprise in his expression, "Look Genrou, I can't get there today, I'm WAY to busy! We have a meeting with another group of bandits today, you see, there has been some controversey over who owns what land and--" Tasuki let Kouji's conversation go in one ear and out the other... The last thing he wanted right now was to be rejected after a restless night like the one he just had, and on top of that, serious talk was NOT something he was going to entertain at the moment! Well, not until he had taken care of some important business of his own! Which, if he didn't hurry up and relieve this pressure, he felt like he was going to explode! Kouji kept right on talking... Nothing but babbling to Tasuki, and not meaning to, he began to drool as he drifted in and out of a light sleep, small drops hanging off the fang closest to the table, Kouji finally took notice and became quite irritated. "Gen-ROU!!" he shouted, "How could you just ignore this! It's really important, being the former leader, and possibly the new one, you should be paying attention and helping out the situation!! Not drooling all over a god damned table!!" Realizing his attempts at talking to the ex-leader while he was sleeping would be pointless, he marched out of the room and left in a huff, his pride mildly hurt. _____________________________________________________________________ "hmmm, what diretion was it that I was supposed to go to get to the banquit hall no da?" Chichiri said as he wandered down the beautifully decorated hall he admired the day before. Actually, if he had payed better attention, this wouldn't have been such a hard task, but since he was deep into his own thoughts at the time, he completely forgot which direction to go for any or everything!! Confused, he looked around the hall to ask for directions. 'Ohh, I can ask that guy, Kouji from the other night na no da.' Kouji stormed down the hall, not even realizing that he was headed straight for Chichiri until... CRASH!!! they were both on the floor... "Ouch... that hurt no da." whimpered Chichiri, who thought Kouji would have stopped had he realized someone was approaching him. "I'm sorry Kouji, are you alright no da? I just needed to ask you where the banquet hall wa--" suddenly sensing something wrong with the man, he changed his topic, "Are you ok na no da? Want to talk about it?" Still a bit dazed from his collision, Kouji looked Chichiri straight in the eye, "I'm sorry to have knocked you over, but we have problems, I was so busy thinking about them, I'm afraid I didn't even see you there! Gomen Chichiri." "Problems? anything I can lend a hand with no da?" "Well, here, why don't we get up and go to the old boss's conference room. There are old papers I have to look for, and I can give you some background at the same time!" Kouji wearily stood up, then offered a helping hand to the still sprawled on the floor, Chichiri. "Sounds good to me no da, lead the way." __________________________________________________________________________ The Halls were nothing but hustle and bustle while Tasuki wandered them in search of some bath supplies. 'What is so important about these visitor bandits anyway?? I've never known Kouji to be upset about land disputes like this before.' Honestly, there had been very little dispute over their Leikaku home for quite some time! His old boss lead with an iron fist! No one had ever dared to cross his path, well, with the exception of the Shinzen Mountain bandits, but they were easily taken care of! Scared off like a pack of cowardly dogs when they realized how ruthless the boss could truly be when it came to land disputes. 'I doubt they would try that shit again!' he thought as he grabbed the last of his supplies and headed for the spring. But little did he realize, the former boss was indeed ruthless in many aspects, but after raising the two young boys, he became soft... His once spontanious cut throat bandits, now a happy family living and working in unity. Regretfully he never realized this until his dying months, and it was then that he made his decision... that he would always want his bandits, no, his family to live happily like this! Which, in all reality, is why Genrou was left his legacy! Not because he was a grand leader, not because he could easily take down an entire town if he indeed wished to, but because underneath that savage outer show he put on, there was a very deep and soft heart. ______________________________________________________________________ Once in the room, Kouji slammed the large wooden door and began diving into his former boss's written journals. "I'm sorry you have shown up at such a bad time, Chichiri, but here is what is going on-" a 'deer in the headlights look' suddenly overwhelmed his face, "You see, a long time ago, when we were only about 15, 'we' being Genrou and I, The former boss had entertained some guests. In all actuality, they were bandits from a neighboring mountain, but they had come peacfully in order to check out our defenses. Of course, they realized they were no match for us, but, they wanted to join forces. This wouldn't have been a problem, except their way of doing things is a lot different than ours! Granted we make the citizens of sourrounding villages pay fees for protection, but in turn for that fee, we really grant them protection from everything! We are always there to help with floods, share during famine, and protect them from real cut throat bandits! The Leikaku bandits are praised in many villages for their efforts to keep peace! Their methods are much more brutal! They guarentee nothing, usually killing the stronger men, then raping the women. They don't leave what is necessary for each village to survive, they take any and everything a village has, even children!" Kouji saw a look of pure disgust come over the unmasked face as he continued, "They have been known to sell the children as slaves to solitary bandits, or if the child is to their liking, it becomes a new piece of meat to them, and it is trained like a dog, brainwashed even, to be obediant to them and their cause..." Tears began to swell in Kouji's eyes as he dropped to his knees near a new pile of papers. "I can't let them take over! we have been so naive at the thought of being overrun! And now, with HER feeding them inside information, I know this battle isn't going to be one easily won..." "Her??? no da..." Take me to Chapter # 3 no da! Back to Chapter # 1 no da! |
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