Tasuki and Chichiri sat huddled together beneath a pile of their blankets on Chichiri's bed. Diagrams and printed sheets of information were spread out all around them. Tasuki was sitting with his back to the wall, Chichiri planted firmly in his lap, the older boy's head resting on his shoulder as they both examined the papers.

"I can't believe they emptied the library," Tasuki muttered sourly, picking up one page and squinting at the small font.

"I can," Chichiri replied, drawing yet another diagram in his sketchbook. "It's the smartest thing for them to do. If they don't have any books on demons or magic or the like in the library, then there's less chance that anyone might stumble across the truth of what's happening here."

"Yeah, but who would suspect they're summoning a demon anyway?" Tasuki snorted. "Nobody in their right mind would ever believe it."

"We do," Chichiri pointed out, biting his lip in concentration.

Tasuki grinned at him. "Yeah, well, who said we were in our right minds?" Chichiri stifled a chuckle as he continued to draw. "And anyway, it didn't help them. There's more than enough info on the internet."

"Ah, but most students don't have a net connection," Chichiri replied. "The only reason I do is because I hacked into a satellite connection with my laptop."

Tasuki stared at him. "You… you hacked it? Are you serious?"

Chichiri finally looked up at him, blinking in surprise. "Yes, I'm serious. Why?"

Tasuki had to laugh. "I just… you never struck me as the hacker type, is all. You were always such a goody-goody, lecturin' me on bein' a bandit and stuff."

"Well, my life was very different this time around," Chichiri answered, turning back to his drawing. He made a few final strokes, then tore the page off and held it to the light. "I think this is what we want."

Tasuki looked at the page - it was all random lines and circles to him. "If you say so. You're the magic expert. I just supply the muscle."

Chichiri tapped him lightly on the nose. "Don't be so down on yourself, no da. You may act like a baka sometimes, but you and I both know you're just as intelligent as I am."

Tasuki gave him a fanged grin. "Ah, admit it. Ya just love me fer my incredible body."

"And the mind-blowing sex," Chichiri nodded, his face solemn. Tasuki gaped at him for a moment, until the older boy couldn't keep himself from laughing. "Tasuki-kun no baka! I'm teasing you na no da!"

Tasuki shook his head, his eyes laughing. "I just can't get used to how forward ya are now! Not that I'm complainin', mind ya! I like it."

Lust glittered in Chichiri's good eye, as he snuggled a little closer. "That much has been evident, no da. I think I've barely gotten any sleep in the last two weeks, na no da!"

Tasuki bent his head until their lips were only a breath apart. "So? I don't hear ya complaining about it." Whatever answer Chichiri might have given was swallowed by a passionate kiss.

Things were just starting to get steamy, as Tasuki had his hand inside Chichiri's shirt while the older boy wiggled his ass against Tasuki's growing arousal, when a knock at the door interrupted them.

"Genrou? You in there, buddy? We need to talk."

Tasuki halted, his hand still inside Chichiri's shirt, and bit his lip thoughtfully. Chichiri tried to move off him, to let him answer his friend, but Tasuki held him tightly. "No, you stay here. He's gonna have to face this sooner or later - he might as well deal with it all now."

"Are you sure, no da?" Chichiri replied quietly. "It might be easier to talk to him alone, and explain things first."

"Explain what? I already tried that - that's what got us into the fight before he left. Can ya open the door from where ya are?" Chichiri nodded, and waved his hand at the door. A small 'click' was heard as the lock released. "Come in!" Tasuki shouted.

The door opened slowly, and Kouji poked his head in. "Gen-chan? Are you…" he trailed off as he saw the two of them cuddled together. A brief look of bitterness passed over his face, followed by a more lasting one of sadness and regret. "Ah… gomen. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll come back later…"

Tasuki shot his friend an irritated glance. "Baka. Come in and sit down. Yer right, we need to talk. There's a lot I need ta tell ya, if yer willin' to listen."

Kouji seemed to debate for a moment, then slowly moved forward to perch on Tasuki's bed. Now that he had his friend in hearing range, Tasuki found himself at a loss for what to say. Kouji seemed no more comfortable with the situation, fidgeting nervously and not looking either of them in the face.

Finally, it was Chichiri who broke the silence. "Gomen, Kouji-kun no da," he said softly, remembering the last time he and Tasuki had faced this situation. Kouji hadn't been any happier at losing his lover in the previous life.

Kouji looked up, startled. "What're YOU apologizin' for?" He asked.

"I know that you care about Tasuki… I mean, about Genrou, no da. I can only imagine how I would feel, if I lost him to someone else na no da." Chichiri felt Tasuki hug him tighter in reassurance, and squeezed back. "Demo, he cares about you too… he was upset about your fight, na no da."

Kouji gave him an odd look. "You sound funny. What's with the 'no da' thing?"

Chichiri blushed. "Anou… it's a long story, na no da."

Kouji growled. "Everythin' involving Genrou is a 'long story' these days." He sighed, and shoved his hand through his bangs. "So, you love him, then? All right, fine. Guess there's nothin' I can do about it. I won't try ta come between ya." He stood, still not looking his friend in the eye. "And Genrou, I'm sorry about what I said, before. I thought about it, like ya said, and I realized ya wouldn't really do that to me. I was just bein' an ass."

"I forgive you," Tasuki replied quietly. "And I'm sorry that it had to happen this way again. I woulda liked to have done things differently, but I guess that's just how they had to work out."

"Again?" Kouji frowned. "Yer getting' weirder by the day, you know that Gen-chan? I don't understand you at all anymore."

"You'll understand someday, buddy," Tasuki said, sighing softly. "At least, I sure hope so. It'll make things a hell of a lot easier."

"Well, can't you just explain it to me? Why do ya gotta be all mystical and shit?"

"It won't work, no da," Chichiri put in. "You'd never believe us. I didn't believe him, until I figured it out for myself no da." He shook his head and glanced wryly down at the diagrams he'd been drawing. "It's all connected, everything that's been happening here no da. But the pieces won't make any sense, no matter how we try to explain them, until you put them together for yourself, na no da."

Kouji snorted. "Yer both gettin' weird." He stood and moved to the door, turning to look back at them as he paused in the doorway. They made an unbearably sweet picture, curled up together, and he felt his heart squeeze painfully. "Well, I wish ya both luck. Yer gonna need it."

"We still buddies?" Tasuki was almost afraid of the answer, but he had to know.

Kouji blinked, then a slow grin spread over his face. "Dumbass. Of course we are. We were born in the same friggin' hospital room, it's gonna take more than you fallin' in love to tear us apart. Best buddies forever, remember? Besides, SOMEbody's gotta be around to deflate that massive ego of yours!" Laughing, he let the door swing shut behind him.

Tasuki gave a rueful smile. "Yeah, I remember. Better than you do, aniki." Sighing, he stretched, then clutched Chichiri to him in a sudden hug.

"Oi!" Chichiri exclaimed, laughing. "What's that for?"

"Fer bein' so understandin' about Kouji and me," Tasuki replied with a fanged grin. "And just to reassure ya that I love ya, and I always will. Lose me to someone else, indeed!"

Chichiri picked up his finished diagram, and waved it under Tasuki's nose. "So, are we ready to try this, no da? With school starting again in two days, most of the staff members are coming back. I want to try this before they all get here - one of them might be capable of blocking my powers, no da. It might already be too late."

Tasuki nodded agreeably, and let the ex-monk climb over him and off the bed. He watched as Chichiri began to replicate the design on a large piece of plain white paper they had snitched from the school's supply closet. Well, that Tasuki had snitched. At each of the cardinal points, he placed white candles, which Tasuki had borrowed from Naisu, who had returned the day before. The ex-monk frowned, considering them.

"They really ought to be the proper colours, no da," he murmured, tapping his foot absently.

"Hell, we're lucky to get any at all," Tasuki replied. "They're against school policy, but Naisu is Wiccan and she said she sneaks 'em in for her circles. But she didn't have any coloured ones."

"They're most likely against school policy, so that people can't do something similar to what we're about to try." Chichiri added a few more lines to the drawing with coloured pencil crayons, then stepped back and examined the finished product. "That's as good as I can make it, no da. Now all we can do is pray."

"What do you need me to do?" Tauski asked, sliding off the bed.

Chichiri gestured to the south. "Sit there, just outside the circle, and focus your thoughts on Suzaku na no da. Just like the summoning ceremony no da."

Tasuki stared at his lover. "Are you out of your freakin' mind?" he exclaimed. "When you said you were gonna call someone to help us, I didn't think you meant Suzaku! You're not the friggin' Miko, Chiri, you could get yourself killed!"

Chichiri smiled to reassure him. "I'm not going to call Suzaku, Tasuki, don't worry so much no da! But I AM going to need some of his power to reach the Shijin Tenchi Sho… assuming it's possible at all."

Sighing, Tasuki complied, settling himself down at the southern end of the circle and bringing his hands up before him. Concentrating on the point of his fingers, he was only half-aware of Chichiri beginning to chant at the northern end.

:Suzaku, focus on Suzaku. Fiery One, what are you doing to us?: He could feel a tingle of power flowing through and around him, and the coloured lines on the circle began to glow with a soft light. :Our lives have been practically the same, from start to finish - I don't care so much about mine, but why does Chichiri have ta suffer so damn much?:

The glow diffused suddenly, and Chichiri glanced up, irritated. "Tasuki, concentrate no da! Just think of Suzaku, nothing else na no da!"

"Eh, gomen." Tasuki sighed and tried again.

:Suzaku, Suzaku, Suzaku. Wonder who he's tryin' to call? Baka, clear your damn mind! Suzaku, Suzaku, Suzaku…:

His eyes slid closed as he fell into a half-trance, the energy picking up in strength and whirling around them. The diagram glowed and pulsed, and the candles at the four points suddenly sparked to life. As the flames burned strongly, Chichiri's voice grew louder, the chant ringing through Tasuki's ears and seeming to root his body to the floor. He felt the energy of the God of Fire, Suzaku, Protector of the South, enter the circle, and felt his chi responding. There was a flash of heat on his right arm, and he knew that if he looked, he would see his Seishi symbol glowing brightly.

Chichiri's voice went up sharply in pitch, and now the power began to coalesce in the center, forming a bright, glowing red ball. Time seemed to slow, the world outside the circle growing distant and unimportant. For an endless moment, the power screamed at a feverish intensity, threatening to consume both of them and everything else in its path. Then with a single, sharp command, the glowing ball shattered.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! SUNAKAKE BABA!!!" Tasuki couldn't help himself, he jumped to his feet and groped for a tessen that wasn't there. The withered old crone hovering in midair between them looked on in half-amusement, half-annoyance as he fought to get himself back under control.

Tasuki shivered once and fell back to his knees, glaring at the snickering Chichiri. "Fer Christ's sakes, Chichiri, WARN me when yer gonna call HER!" he exclaimed, trying to get his heart back under control.

"I'm glad to see you remember me so well, bandit-boy," the hag replied in a rough voice. There was a sparkle of laughter in her deep, black eyes.

"Who did you THINK I was trying to call, na no da?" Chichiri replied, still chuckling. "Taiitsu-kun is the only one who might know what's going on, and who is powerful enough to reach across the worlds."

"Actually, you succeeded because of Suzaku's intervention," Taiitsu-kun turned to her former pupil. "I do not have the strength to break the seal that was placed on the Shijin Tenchi Sho. Nor does He, alone. It required you to cast this spell, and at least two Seishi to be present."

"Why?" Tasuki demanded.

Taiitsu-kun shot him a particularly contemptuous look. "Because, fang-boy, the seal which was placed by the Miko…"

"No, I mean, why did He interfere at all?" Tasuki interrupted her. "What's goin' on? Why do we remember all this stuff? I thought people from the book, livin' in the real world, with their Seishi memories, caused problems and stuff. Are we facin' another Tenkou, or what?"

Taiitsu-kun looked at him with a new respect. "Apparently, you have learned some intelligence in this life." Chuckling, and ignoring Tasuki's growl, she continued. "The Majin which this place was built to feed, is indeed very like Tenkou in his powers. Unlike Tenkou, who fed off negative emotions, however, this demon feeds off of physical pain and suffering, as Chichiri has already guessed." She folded her hands into the sleeves of her robes. "You were granted the return of your Seishi memories, because they will be necessary to defeat this demon."

"But why us, na no da?" Chichiri asked. "Does this Majin have some connection to the Shijin Tenchi Sho?"

"In a way, yes. The Majin, who calls himself 'Itami', was originally a member of the Hin race, who worshiped Tenkou. He gained power by making sacrifices to Tenkou, who granted him the ability to feed off the physical pain, in return for a great deal of negative emotions."

"The Hin, no da?" Chichiri blinked. "Nakago's race na no da?"

"Yes, but this man was born long before even Genbu no Miko was called. By the time that he died, he had gained enough power to transform himself into a minor demon. He fed off the pain and suffering of Kutou's constant attempts to conquer the other countries, and grew more and more powerful throughout the centuries. Now he seeks to enter the real world, just as Tenkou did."

"How in the hell are we supposed to fight him?" Tasuki demanded. "This school's been around for nearly 15 years now. Have they been feeding this energy to him all this time? He must be really fucking powerful! It took Miaka and Taka nearly dyin' to destroy Tenkou. What are WE supposed to do?"

"He is not yet as powerful as Tenkou was then," Taiitsu-kun replied. "And he has an important weak spot, that Tenkou did not. At the moment, he is tied to a physical object in this world, which resides in the room behind the seal which the two of you found. If you can destroy that object, then you will destroy his link to reality. He will be damned to float in the Abyss forever."

Tasuki's expression was thoughtful, as his eyes narrowed. "An' what happens then?" he demanded, his voice rough. "If we keep our memories, the seal between the worlds will be broken. Are we gonna forget all about our past lives?"

Taiitsu-kun grunted. "A reasonable assumption, but no. The former Seishi reborn into this world, and many of those close to them, have a much stronger connection with their past lives than ordinary people. In times of trauma, they are likely to regain at least a partial memory of their powers, as Soi did in the confrontation in the cafeteria."

"The Seishi… and those close to them?" Chichiri repeated softly. "Then Hikou…"

"Did remember his past life, yes." Taiitsu-kun's face held the softest expression Tasuki had ever seen on it, as she placed a gentle hand on her former pupil's bowed shoulder. "As you surmised, he was attempting to spare you the pain caused by letting him go."

"But we're still allowed to remember all this, when it's finished? Ya aren't gonna, like, give us memory globes or that shit?" Tasuki persisted.

"Hmph. No, your memories will not be taken from you. You aren't even the first to regain your full memories."

"Yosha!" Tasuki gave a fanged grin. "So, when do we get started kickin' this demon's ass?"

"Not so fast," Taiitsu-kun replied. "You're a little under-equipped at the moment."

"What do ya mean? Chiri's got his magic, and me to guard his back. What more do we need?"

"This, for starters." The crone held her hands together before her, and with a grunt of concentration, a pink glow formed between them. It grew into a sizable sphere, until finally it burst with an audible 'pop'.

"Nyan!" The kawaii, blue-haired child held up on hand in the victory sign. Tasuki and Chichiri both facevaulted.

"Nyan-nyan!" Chichiri exclaimed. "What are you doing here no da?"

Taiitsu-kun growled. "That was NOT what I was trying to summon. Blasted pests."

"I wanted to say 'hi'!" The Nyan-nyan giggled in its high pitched voice, and flashed them the victory sign again. Then she jumped into the air, did a double-backflip, and returned to energy form.

This time, when the bubble popped, a shining metal object was left to settle into Taiitsu-kun's gnarled hands.

"My tessen!" Tasuki exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "All RIGHT! Now I can REALLY kick some ass!" Snatching the metal fan from Taiitus-kun's grasp, he struck a dramatic pose, cackling maniacally.

"AHOU!" The Creator thumped him squarely on the head, and he plopped back down, rubbing his head irritably. "That's just a beginning. Itami has gathered a great deal of power over the years. He's very nearly ready to make his entrance. In addition to his own, personal power, he has control of several very powerful underlings. You're going to need help to fight them."

"Why the fuck has this been left so damn long?" Tasuki demanded. "Why the fuck wasn't he stopped earlier, when he was powerless enough to be stopped easily?"

"It is that very power, which will be his downfall," Taiitsu-kun replied. "He is destroying the balance between Good and Evil, which is what is allowing the Four Gods to act on this."

"Allowing them to bring their Seishi into play, you mean," Chichiri put in. "So, when he wasn't very powerful, the Gods were not permitted to act?"

"Exactly."

"Well, where the hell are we supposed ta find help?" Tasuki snorted. "This may be a school full of delinquents, but I don't think any of 'em are quite up to demon-slaying."

"The other Seishi?" Chichiri hazarded a guess. "You said there were others whose memories had been revived. Will they be joining us?"

Taiitsu-kun gave a muffled cough. "Not… exactly," she said, seeming suddenly evasive.

Tasuki wasn't about to let her get away with that, demi-god or not. "Then WHAT, exactly?" he growled. "Dammit, I'm not goin' up against a near-god without all the information I can get! What are we workin' with, here? Who're our allies gonna be?"

"You have no way of contacting the other Suzaku Seishi, as they are all outside this school. None of them have the ability to call upon me, or I would send them to you. Besides, those who have been awakened are dealing with problems of their own."

"If not the other Suzaku, then WHO?" Tasuki was frustrated with the mind-games Taiitsu-kun was apparently trying to play.

"There are… other Seishi than the Suzaku," Chichiri murmured, realization dawning on his face, to be mingled with his disgust. "Here, at this school."

Tasuki's jaw clenched, and his knuckles turned white around the handle of his tessen. "No. Absolutely not. NO FUCKIN' WAY!" He jumped to his feet to shout the last into Taiitsu-kun's impassive face.

"I am NOT workin' with those two fuckers!" He nearly screamed, his face red with rage. "Never mind what they did to us in the LAST fucking life, they're even MORE sadistic now!"

Taiitsu-kun was unperturbed by his fury. "You don't know everything, boy." She replied. "They, too, suffered many of the same hardships in this life that they did in the last. And, like Chichiri, they did not have the fact that they were Seishi to protect them this time."

The mention of Chichiri's past hit him in the face like a wet towel, and he calmed down a little. "That's different," Tasuki growled. "Chichiri has never hurt anybody."

"But I could have," Chichiri replied quietly. "In this life, as Houjun, I never really learned to deal with my temper. I didn't have Taiitsu-kun to teach me control, and I didn't have a purpose to my life, as I did as a Seishi. You saw how bitter and antisocial I was, before you started trying to draw me out. While I have NEVER enjoyed the kind of 'games' that Kaen and Chuin do, I might very well have ended up hurting someone in a different way."

"NO!" Tasuki shook his head frantically. "They're evil, through and through. No better than the damn demon we're trying to destroy. They're as likely to turn on us and fight for it, as work with us, dammit!" He shivered as the memory of the glee on their faces as they tortured him flooded his mind.

"Tasuki, I don't like it any better than you do," Chichiri stated. "But if Taiitsu-kun says we need their help, then we really do have no other choice."

"You will need to cast a spell to activate their memories fully, Chichiri," Taiitsu-kun interjected. Calling another energy bubble to her, she conjured a scroll, which she handed to the mage. "Kaen has some of them, but they are not complete, and Chuin has none at all. I think you will find, once you have done so, they will be more than eager to help you destroy Itami."

"No, no, and for the last fuckin' time, NO!" Tasuki ground his back teeth together with an audible sound. "I don't give a flyin' fuck what their lives were like. They're bastards, in this life AND the last one, an' nothing is gonna change my mind!"

"Then you will be destroyed," Taiitsu-kun relied solemnly. "And Itami will emerge into this world successfully. If you cannot get over your petty differences with them, you will all die."

"Petty…" Tasuki choked on his own rage, his face turning white, then red, then white again. The hand gripping his tessen shook with fury.

"Taiitsu-kun!" Chichiri leapt to his feet in protest as well. "That's not fair. Tasuki suffered a great deal at their hands. It's not unreasonable that he has no wish to forgive them!"

"If Itami gains access to the mortal world, what Tasuki suffered will be nothing compared to the havoc and pain that he will wreak. If he is too selfish to see beyond that, then he is indeed petty, and hardly worth of being a Suzaku Shichiseishi."

Tasuki lowered his head, his eyes covered by his jagged bangs, his expression brooding. Finally, he raised his face back to theirs, and his gaze was as hard and cold as the metal of his tessen. "Fine," he gritted, the acquiescence obviously costing him. "You bring their memories back, and we'll blow this demon back to hell, where it belongs. But don't expect me to like it. And when this is over…" he propped his tessen against his shoulder, and Chichiri shivered to see the ice in his normally fiery gaze. "When it's over, I'm gonna send both of THEM to hell after him."

He turned on his heel and strode towards the door. Chichiri watched his lover go, apprehension sitting heavily in his heart. This experience would either break Tasuki, or make him stronger; the mage was desperately afraid it might just be the former.
 
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