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Say When

By samuraiheart

 

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Part Two: Just About Right

 

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Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me and are the property of their respective owners.

 

Warning: This story contains shounen-ai, which means there will be a relationship between two men (Tasuki and Chichiri) that goes beyond friendship.

 

This fic is happily spoiler free and very sappy. It doesn’t fit into the continuity of the series at all so don’t even try. I have no idea where Tamahome and Miaka are, but the other six seishi are staying at the palace during this little break.

 

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At dinner, everything seemed relatively normal or at least everyone was good at pretending. Nuriko and Mitsukake didn’t mention anything about the recent revelation and Chichiri seemed to have forgotten about Tasuki’s little blushing incident earlier that afternoon. Tasuki loosened up a little after a drink or two and soon forgot about the situation as well. Somehow they ended up on the topic of the Mt. Leikaku bandits and Tasuki was telling a story they had all heard way too many times.

 

Chiriko yawned sleepily and rested his head on the edge of the table in front of him. Hotohori glanced briefly at Mitsukake. The healer nodded and stood to put Chiriko to bed. Nuriko watched Tasuki politely, but rested his head wearily on one hand. Chichiri was completely fascinated by the story or at least by the redheaded banded telling it. He sat leaning slightly toward Tasuki and his eyes sparkled in wonder as Tasuki neared the end of his telling of that particular adventure.

 

"And finally, we just couldn’t take it anymore and we had no other choice. We had to tell him!" Tasuki continued. His eyes shone brightly with excitement and somewhere along the way he had stopped looking around the room. His attention was solely focused on Chichiri, which was a good thing since all of the other seishi had long since lost interest.

 

Nuriko glanced over at Hotohori slyly and raised his eyebrows as he gestured at the two men sitting beside each other at the end of the table. Hotohori tilted his head questioningly and wondered what Nuriko was trying to tell him about Tasuki and Chichiri. He looked at the two seishi curiously and pursed his lips as he leaned back in his ornate chair. He folded his arms in front of him and studied them carefully as Tasuki finished the story and Chichiri laughed enthusiastically at the bandit. The mage’s mask smiled even more than usual and he clapped his hands in front of him a few times in appreciation. Tasuki leaned back in his chair and glanced at his friend approvingly. Hotohori laughed politely and then excused himself from the table. He gestured for Nuriko to follow him and they stopped just outside the door.

 

"What was that all about?" Hotohori asked. His long silk robes trailed behind him and made a rustling sound against the wooden floor.

 

"Isn’t it obvious! Tasuki has a crush on Chichiri and I think Chichiri just might feel the same way." Nuriko smiled brightly at the emperor. Matchmaking was one of his favorite pastimes and it always put him in a good mood. He was fairly successful so far, but he didn’t have too much experience yet. One for one wasn’t a bad record though.

 

"Huh." Hotohori said quietly as the pieces began to fall into place. It really did make a lot of sense and it certainly explained the strange scene he had witnessed just then. "Have they told each other yet?"

 

"No. And they probably won’t." Nuriko said frowning in disapproval.

 

"Unless…" Hotohori placed his hand under his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe there’s something we can do. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. Right now I think I’ll head back to my chambers." The emperor yawned elaborately. "Care to join me?" The emperor winked at Nuriko mischievously and leaned closer to brush violet bangs from the other seishi’s face.

 

"I wouldn’t miss it for anything." Nuriko answered expectantly and slipped his arm around Hotohori’s waist as they made their way down the hallway.

 

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The next day, all six seishi gathered in Hotohori’s throne room and glanced back and forth at each other anxiously. Chichiri had an announcement to make.

 

Finally, Chichiri stepped forward and stood before the group with both hands clasped behind his back. "I called you all here for a reason, no da. I have a new spell, na no da!" He declared excitedly in his high-pitched voice.

 

With a wave of his hands and a few carefully pronounced syllables, the air in front of him began to shimmer slightly.

 

The others held their breath in anticipation and stared at the spot in front of Chichiri until the sparkles faded away.

 

"That’s it, no da!" Chichiri stated simply and glanced around at his friends for approval.

 

"What did you do?" Chiriko asked.

 

"What do you mean, no da?" Chichiri tilted his head and stared back at the youngest seishi.

 

"Nothing happened!" Chiriko insisted.

 

Mitsukake stepped forward slightly and placed a hand on Chiriko’s shoulder. "I think what he means, Chichiri, is why don’t you tell us exactly what you can use this spell for?"

 

Chichiri leaned back slightly on his heels and seemed to contemplate this for a moment. He finally threw his hands up in the air. "It’s a distraction spell, no da! It doesn’t do anything exactly, but the point is that it looks like it does, no da. Our enemies will expect something to happen, but nothing will, no da."

 

"That’s brilliant!" Tasuki said emphatically. He ran his hands through his orange bangs and gazed at the monk standing a few feet away from him. His cheeks were slightly flushed and his eyes were bright with adoration.

 

"Uh… okay…" Nuriko said as he glanced back and forth between Chichiri and Tasuki. Here we go again.

 

"Thank you, Tasuki, no da. I’ve been working on it for months, na no da!" Chichiri answered cheerfully. The monk was completely oblivious.

 

Hotohori gazed at the mage in disbelief. "This is what you’ve been working on for months?"

 

"Yes, your majesty, no da. It’s a very complicated spell, na no da." Chichiri said assertively.

 

Tasuki nodded appreciatively. "Yes and it’s very useful."

 

"Yes it is, no da." Chichiri just kept smiling and nodding.

 

"But it doesn’t do anything!" Chiriko insisted.

 

Mitsukake shook his head and smirked slightly at the youngest seishi. He would have to teach him about subtlety sometime.

 

"That’s the point, no da!" Chichiri exclaimed again.

 

"Exactly! What a wonderful spell!" Tasuki announced excitedly. He didn’t seem to notice the objections. His attention was clearly focused elsewhere.

 

"Does anyone want to see it again, no da?" Chichiri asked hesitantly. Maybe they just hadn’t caught it the first time around.

 

"I’d love ta see it again!" Tasuki answered a little too quickly.

 

Nuriko rolled his eyes and Chiriko brought his hand up to his forehead in annoyance. Hotohori shook his head. "Not right now, Chichiri. I think we all have things we have to attend to. Maybe some other time."

 

"Okay, no da." Chichiri nodded and turned towards Tasuki who was still beaming in his direction. "Maybe we should wait, then, no da."

 

Tasuki frowned and hung his head in disappointment. "Yeah." He said flatly as Chichiri turned to go and they all headed off to do other things.

 

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Nuriko, Hotohori, Mitsukake, and Chiriko gathered in the emperor’s chambers in the afternoon of the next day.

 

"Where are Chichiri and Tasuki?" Hotohori asked.

 

"Probably practicing that new spell." Nuriko said while rolling his eyes in mock disgust.

 

Mitsukake smirked. "They really are hopeless."

 

"So what are we going to do?" Chiriko asked innocently.

 

"Should he really be here?" Hotohori looked warily at the youngest seishi and then back at the others.

 

"It’s okay. He knows and he’s fine with it." Mitsukake patted Chiriko lightly on the shoulder and nodded.

 

"It’s sooooo obvious! I’m surprised you all didn’t notice it earlier." Chiriko waved his hands in front of him and shook his head at the rest of the group.

 

"Anyway, what’s the plan?" Nuriko continued. They really should get this over with quickly. Chichiri and Tasuki could show up at any moment.

 

"Well, we need to get them together somehow and force them to talk things over, but we can’t be too obvious about it." Hotohori furrowed his eyebrows and tried to concentrate on a way to accomplish what they wanted.

 

After a few moments of silence, Nuriko came up with an idea. "Hmmmm… what if we locked them in a room somehow?"

 

"Yeah and we wouldn’t let them out until they both confessed!" Mitsukake finished.

 

"But-" Chiriko stood on his tiptoes and tugged on Mitsukake’s sleeve. The older man shrugged him away and warned him about distracting them.

 

"Quiet, Chiriko we’re planning."

 

"But I-" Chiriko’s voice was now a high-pitched whine.

 

"Later, Chiriko. I think this could work." Nuriko nodded and glared at the youngest seishi.

 

After some carefully hurried planning and a few consultations, they were ready. The four seishi gathered in a narrow hallway near the main dining hall and whispered the last few steps to their plan.

 

"Do you have the key?" Hotohori looked up at Nuriko anxiously and glanced up and down the hallway twice just to make sure that no one had heard.

 

Nuriko removed the shiny metal object from a fold in his sleeve. He placed it carefully in Hotohori’s palm and nodded. "Let’s do it."

 

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continued in the next part