"IIIYYYYAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" H-chan arched in the air, screaming in pain as the electricity coursed through her body. "H-chan!" Tasuki reached out to grab her and was stopped by Chiriko. "The electricity will go straight through you too!" "Well, I gotta do SOMETHING!" Tasuki grabbed the tessen and raised in high into the air. "LEKKA-" "TASUKI! What are you DO-" "SHIIEN!" A sheet of fire went straight across H-chan, evaporating the water. The sea littlerally parted around her, leaving her in a cloud of mist on nearly dry sand. The water began to rush back as she slumped to her knees. "Uh..." "Gotcha!" Tasuki grabbed ehr by the arm and began to drag her up the shore. "Youre %$#@in HEAVY, oinu..." "Wow! That was quick thinking, Tasuki!" Chiriko beamed with admiration. Tasuki shrugged. "I couldnt just let her DIE. even if she is an annoying little oinu." He scooped her up in his arms and looked around, taking stock iof the situtaion. "so whered ya take us, boy genius?" "Its a cave...I think it was used by fishermen in the past. Can you use that thing like a torch?" Chiriko gestured to the tessen. "Sure. LEKKA-shieen...." Tasuki held out the glowing tessen and they walked into the cave. It was dark, but suprisingly dry. Tasuki laid H-chan down on the ground. "Heavy brat." "Youre so MEAN to her!" Chiriko growled. "Chichiri's right, you need to let up." "Why? She interfered! What the %$#@ was that little %$#@ THINKING?!?" Tasuki raged, fist in the air. "Probaly 'Gee, Id better do something or Tasuki's gonna drown.' Baka." Chiriko snorted, then took off his overcoat. "ne, Tasuki, torch this." "Why?" "We need to keep her warm so she can wake up." Chiriko spread out the coat beside the supine miko. "Its the only dry thing we have!" "But youll freeze!" Tasuki spat. "I dont have a choice. A seishi's job is to protect a miko." Chirikos voice took on a crious maturity, far beyond his years. It gave Tasuki the chills, but he couldnt disobey the wisdom of the statemnt. "Rekka-SHIEN!" The coat was blazing. "You know, you REALLY owe her one." Chiriko said. "No I dont! She almost killed herself-" "SAVING YOU!! When are you gonna get it through your thick head that shes not all bad just because shes a GIRL?!?" Chiriko slammed a fist down on the ground. "Shes just a miko, whos weak despite her wings and yelling, and shes scared to death, and youre not helping!" (Scared?) This was a suprise to Tasuki. He looked down at the miko and thought back to their first meeting and battle. She was fearless then... but when he was about to win, she had looked absolutely puke-up scared. (It was an act. Of course. Women are born actors.)Tasuki turned away from Chiriko, trying to hide his fluster. "Oh, cut it out. Youre such a baby, Chiriko...hiding behind your brain." "What do you mean?" "A real BANDIT wouldnt give a %$#@ about a girl. A real BANDIT wouldnt give back the stuff other bandits stole, and a real BANDIT dosent CRY! Youre not a BANDIT...youre a BABY!" Tasuki snorted, then immediately regretted it. The look on Chiriko's face was enough to make him sputter. Chiriko stood up, biting his lip. "Im not staying here. Im gonna go wait on shore for the others." "Ne, Chiriko, matte-" "Just..." he heard a little muffled whimper from Chiriko. "JUST SHUT UP!" Chiriko stomped out of the cavern. Tasuki almost got up after him, then looked down at the miko. He sighed. "Guess I hafta wait for you..you never stop causing me trouble, do ya?" ^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~ "NI-CHAN! NI-CHAN!" Migenrou hollered out across the churning waves, handing off the side of the boat. "TASUKI! CHIRIKOOO!!!!" She screeched untill Nuriko grabbed her around the waist and set her on the deck. "Hey! what the %$#@ didja do THAT for?!?" Migenrou scowled up at Nuriko, who just laughed and put a comforting hand on the girls shoulder. "Daijobu. Chichiri's taking care of it..." On the helm of the boat, holing out his staff with a feather quickly lashed to it, Chichiri was acting as an anntennae. The mask he was wearing helped to disguse some of the fear on his face, but Tamahome knew him too well. "Daijobu, Chichiri?" Chichiri gave a short nod. (Mou...that girl can be such a baka...I hope to Suzaku shes okay-) *ZAAAT* "N-n-nani?!?" Chichiri gaped down at the feather, which was now a dark borwn and stunk of burning hair. "H-chan!" He reached down to pick it up, and it shocked him. "Ite!" He bit his lip. "Lightning...the lightning must have... H-CHAN!" he whimpered. "Oi, Chichiri..." Mitsukake walked up, wearing a slight smile. He held out his hand, symbol glowing. "If thats an anntennae to H-chan, Its no problem I cant handle..." "Mitsukake...arigatou." ^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~ "Maam!" Amiboshi looked over the scene with shock. "They escaped! That little kid helped them escape!" Miryuu growled. "Tomo...the shin clam...can it teleport us to that boat?" "Hai, Miryuu-sama." "Good. Lets pay our freinds a little visit." ^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~ "Geeze." Tasuki glared at the cave wall. "Wake up already." He glared down at H-chan. She lay, one arm spread out, feathers still d ripping with rain and waves. Her face was twisted. "Uh...that musta hurt..." Tasuki reached out an arm to touch her cheek, and quickly decided against it. "Not that I care." Scilence. "Cause I dont. Not one bit!" Tasuki picked up one of her limp arms and dropped it. It fell weighted to the ground. "Still unconsious..." he thought back to her screeching in annoyance and diving into the water- just to save him. "maybe Chichiris right." Tasuki shook his head. "You snagged a good one, oinu..." He sighed. "Its not anything I have against you personally...youre just so %$#@in STUBBORN...and a GIRL...but youre brave,even for a girl, Ill give ya that...and strong..." He bit his lip, tears springing to his eyes. "get...GET UP H-CHAN!" He held her up in a clumsy embrace. "PLEASE! ILL BE NICE TO YA! SO GET UP! PLEASE-eh?" He held her away from him. A green glow was gathering around her body. "Nani?" He reached for his tessen, and saw his arm was releasing chi torwards her. he nodded. "Must be Mitsukake...%$#@! Still holding her!" He quickly set her back down on the ground. She hacked up a bit of water, and murmured. "Tasuki...youre so STRONG...so HANDSOME..." Tasuki turned red. "Na-" "AND STUPID!" H-chan stuck out her tounge, and giggled. "Nyaah! You fell for it!" she laughed more as Tasuki turned redder. He grabbed his tessen. "u-Uresi, Oinu!" "Ne...calm down. I heard what you said...so you dont hate me." H-chan grinned. "Who saw that coming?" "I did!" Chiriko piped, sticking his head in the caverns mouth. "The boats here! Come ON, minna!" "Hai-Chiriko, wheres your overcoat!" H-chan gasped, then wagged ehr finger at him sternly. "Youll freeze! Baka!" Chiriko turned red. "A-ano...we burned it to keep you warm." "Ah...gomen ne...eh he he..." ^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~ *SCCCCCCRTCH!* The boat rocked and rumbled to a stop. "What was THAT?!?" Migenrou growled. Chichiri laughed. "Weve reached land no da! Come on, Migenrou no da!" The two ran down the gangplank, waving thier arms and yelling. Tamahome watched after them. "Ne, Nuriko, you wanna give H-chan and Chichiri a moment?" Nuriko smiled. "I GUESS we could wait..." "Funny, we cant..." a voice came from the side of the boat. "Nani?!?" Nuriko looked around. "Who was tha-" She was cut off as ribbons shot up from the side of the boat. Miryuu's cruel laughter cut trhough the air. "No...K-chan..."Tamahome choked, reaching up in vain to claw through the ribbons. He hacked and fell unconsious to the ground, Nuriko following suit. Miryuu jumped on deck, followed by her seiryuu seishi. She looked around. "Capture EVERYONE on this ship." "Hai, Miryuu-sama." Suboshiko quickly worked her way through the ship, capturing al the seishi in a tangle of ribbons. Unfortunately, in the chaos they forgot about the non seishi...the otherworld girl...who was currently paddling to shore... ^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~*^_~ "H-chan no da!" "Chichi-" H-chan was cut off as Chichiri rushed her. Her face landed against his chest, effectively cutting off any further commentary. "Baka! Baka! What would posses you to do something so STUPID no da?" He berated her in a high pitched voice. "If it wasnt for Mitsukake, you woulda DIED no da!" "Daijobu! DAIJOBU!" H-chan insisted, putting her amrs around his waist. "You know how stupid I can be..." "Youre going to turn my hair grey no da..." "Isnt it already g-" "ITS BLUE NO DA!" A few feet away. Migenrou was giving her Ni-chan hell. "What were you thinking? Huh? You idiot, cant even keep your balance on a BOAT!" "Shut the %$#@ up, Migen-chan!" He noogied his sister, fangs bared in a friendly grin. Chichiri put a hand on H-chans head and tilted her face torwards his. "Youre so pale no da..." "It was cold..." H-chan blushed. (Damnit, there go the brain cells...) She quickly looked away-and there was Chiriko. Poor li'l Chiriko. He was sitting all alone on the ground, staring out over the sea, a sad little smile on his face. H-chan broke away from Chichiri. "Da?" he said questioningly, watching her retreat. She went to sit by the sad little boy. "Ne? Doushite ano, Chiriko?" "Nothing..." Chiriko said, forcing huis sad little smile into an almost creepy grin. "Im just-" "Sucks to be alone, dosent it?" "Huh?" Chiriko looiked up at H-chan. her brown hair tossed in her face from the salty sea air as she stared out over the waves. "its pretty...what are you looking for, Chiriko?" "Im not looking for anything." "Sure you are." H-chan leaned down and gave him a hug. "You arent alone, Chiriko...you got me, and Chichiri, and the rest of the shichiseishi..." "Hai no da!" Chichiri sat on the other side of Chiriko. "You cant be lonely with so many friends to lean on no da!" "Yeah!" Migenrou popped up from behind and noogied the now giggling Chiriko. "Your a bandit! You got the whole college rooting for ya! Dont be so SOUR!" "Honto..." Chiriko blinked at a few tears. His intelligence had made his life a lonely one. He was never able to really relate to anyone. But H-chan was pretty insistent about the fact he did belong, and they all liked him. And suprisingly, the rest of the seishi had followed suit... "No, Chiriko." A gruff voice piped up. He looked over in suprise. "Tasuki?" "It turns out...bandits do cry." Chiriko's eyes met with shock at Tasukis red, watery ones. "We dont cry much, ya understand...but I guess I can see how a kid could. A bandit kid still in training." "Tasuki!" Chiriko burst out of the group and tackled Tasuki. "%$#@!" They both fell down, Tasuki cursing a blue streak. "%$#@ing KID! AHO! BAKA!" "kawaii, ne?" H-chan walked back over to Chichiri, grinning. She started at the stern expression on his face. "whats wrong?" "Minna!" Chichiri shouted. "Evil chi!" "Your damned right!" Miryuus voice carried from the boat. Ribbons shot off the deck, entwinging all of the seishi and others on the island. "N-nani?!?" Tasuki struggled to reach his tessen, but it just made the ribbons tighter. "Dont move Tasuki!" Chichiri shouted. "It'll choke you to death!" "Hmm..." The Seiryuu seishi walked off the boat, a tangle of unconsious seishi in tow. H-chans spirits sank as she recognized the remaining crew, groaning and coughing in the ribbons Suboshiko was carrying behind her. "You seishi are heavy..." Amiboshi also followed suit, playing a high tune on his flute. Tomo stepped forward, a smirk on his face. He knelt beside H-chan. "Ah, the beautiful Suzaku no Miko...the fair flower that somehow always eluded my grasp..." H-chan smirked. "Just lucky, I guess." "Pretty girl, completely at MY mercies..." Tomo hissed,and leaned in to kiss her- "OW!" He fell back, holding his lip. A thin trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. H-chan spat Tomo's blood out of ehr mouth, hating the salty taste. "Asshole. Dont underestimate me. And dont try that again. I can do a LOT worse than bite you." Tomo stood up, smirking. "Miryuu...what shall we do with theese trouble makers?" H-chan gasped. "The wings!" She reached for her feather- nothing happened. "Nani?" "OH, did I forget to mention that Amiboshi is using his flute to block a great deal of the magical energy you little ones can recive? Youll have to work in your own personal power now..." Miryuu chuckled. "Pity, mear humans are quite meek..." "Miryuu! I sence another chi..." Suboshiko looked around quickly. "A Suzaku supporter not bound in my ribbons." "HAI!" K-chan sprang up on a rock, holding a long branch defensively. "K-chan! Here to save everyone!" "K-chan!" H-chan screamed in exasperation. "What are you DOING?!?" K-chan shrugged. "When I saw what was going on, I figured I should just swim to shore. Having someone free would be good, right?" "And since you dont have any powers, youd be harder to detect...good thinking, K-chan!" H-chan beamed, then her face became worried. "You realize youll have to fight for your freedom, right?" "F-f-fight? Me?" H-chan sighed in annoyance. "DO YOU SEE ANYONE ELSE HERE!?!" She floated her feather to K-chan. She concentrated a moment, and the feather became longer and glowing. "Use that...and FIGHT!" END CHAP 15!