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By samuraiheart
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Part Three: Too Much
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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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"Hi, Chichiri! Hi, Tasuki!" Nuriko shouted as he neared the clearing where Tasuki and Chichiri were sitting. He waved enthusiastically at the pair and leaned down closer to them.
"Hi, Nuriko, no da." Chichiri said cautiously.
"Hey." Tasuki looked up at the violet-haired seishi warily. There was no telling what he was up to now.
"Uh, Hotohori-sama wants to speak with you both!" Nuriko announced cheerfully. He held out both hands to help the other two seishi stand and then began to pull them in the direction of the palace.
"Okay, no da. Where is he?" Chichiri pulled his hand away from Nuriko’s grasp and began walking beside him.
"Uh. He’s in that storage room across from the dining hall." Nuriko said nervously. This was the part they had never exactly been able to explain.
"He is? That’s a little strange. Why does he want ta meet us in there?" Tasuki felt Nuriko’s grip on his arm tighten.
"It’s… ummm…. Well, it’s really important and he wants to keep it a secret." Nuriko finished hurriedly. He hoped they wouldn’t ask any more questions.
"Alright." Tasuki answered reluctantly and glanced over at the blue-haired monk standing on the other side of Nuriko.
Chichiri shrugged and turned towards the entrance. "We’ll be right there, no da."
"Okay, He’ll be waiting." Nuriko rushed off quickly in the direction of the dining hall and glanced back briefly to make sure that Tasuki and Chichiri weren’t too far behind.
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"Did they buy it?" Hotohori whispered as Nuriko rushed around the corner and into the dining hall.
"Yeah. I think so." Nuriko answered breathlessly.
It was still too early for dinner and the room was not well lit between meals. The four seishi crept within the shadows and peered cautiously in the direction of the room across the hall.
"Shhhh! Here they come!" Mitsukake said as the sound of two sets of footsteps echoed in the small corridor.
"Guys, what about-" Chiriko started to object, but was quickly silenced by Nuriko’s hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shhhh!" Nuriko insisted as the two unsuspecting seishi came into view. The four conspirators gazed at them through a small crack in the door and hoped they wouldn’t think to look in this direction.
"I wonder what he wants with us." Tasuki said softly as they turned the corner.
"I don’t know, no da. I guess we’ll find out na no da." Chichiri shrugged and walked into the room across from the dining hall. It was poorly lit and looked relatively empty.
"Hello?" Tasuki said loudly. His voice echoed in the bare room.
"There’s no one here, no da." Chichiri said hesitantly.
His declaration was quickly followed by a loud SLAM and the sound of muffled laughter from the hallway.
"What happened?" Tasuki asked as he walked towards the front of the room and leaned against one of the walls.
"I think someone locked the door, no da." Chichiri tugged at the handle, but it was no use. They were clearly trapped and it didn’t seem to be an accident.
"Why would they do that?" Tasuki frowned.
"I think we’ve been set up, no da." Chichiri ran his hand through his bangs nervously and shook his head.
"What do you mean?" Tasuki took a step closer to the monk and placed a hand on the other’s shoulder.
"Listen, I hear giggling, na no da. I think it’s Nuriko-chan, no da." The monk gestured toward the door and sure enough the familiar sound of Nuriko’s laugh echoed in the hallway.
"Oh no! I should’ve known they’d do something like this!" Tasuki shook his head and ran both hands through his hair.
"Why, no da?" Chichiri tilted his head and looked at his friend inquisitively.
"Well, ya see, I kinda told ‘em that I liked ya and they’re probably trying to get me to confess to ya cuz they think ya like me too." Tasuki looked down at his feet and rocked slightly on his heels.
"I see, no da." Chichiri answered quietly.
"What are we going to do now?" Tasuki asked dejectedly. He looked up at the other man for some sort of explanation.
"I don’t know, no da." Chichiri admitted weakly, but it sounded like he was trying to suppress laughter of his own.
"Do ya think we should tell ‘em we already talked this over last night?" Tasuki asked tentatively, but there was a spark in his gaze as he snaked his arm around Chichiri’s shoulders and grinned at him.
"Nah, no da. Let them figure it out on their own na no da." Chichiri couldn’t hold back the laughter much longer and he turned to bury his face in Tasuki’s strong shoulder and looked up at his newfound love with a wide grin of his own.
"We can teleport out of here right?" Tasuki asked.
"Right no da. Where do you want to go na no da?" Chichiri whispered. His warm breath brushed against Tasuki’s neck.
"How about where we were last night?" Tasuki suggested.
"Okay no da. By the lake, na no da." Chichiri nodded and brought his hands up in front of him so that he could cast the spell to take them away from there.
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After a few minutes, the other seishi began to get bored with the situation. Hotohori leaned against the door and pressed his ear up against the surface. "It’s awfully quiet in there."
Chiriko sighed and shook his head elaborately. "I tried to tell you!"
Nuriko glanced at the boy thoughtfully and Mitsukake bent down to look at him more closely "What were you trying to tell us?" he asked.
"Chichiri can teleport!" Chiriko shouted in a high-pitched proclamation.
"Oh." Hotohori said dejectedly and shook his head.
"Oops." Nuriko winced and looked down at his feet.
"I guess we kind of forgot about that little technicality." Mitsukake added.
"I wonder where they went." Hotohori asked after they finally unlocked the door only to discover an empty room.
"Poor Tasuki. I really thought this would work!" Nuriko whined and shook his head. Maybe his matchmaking success was only limited to himself.
"I guess we’ll just have to try something different tomorrow." Mitsukake replied quietly and they all shrugged their shoulders and wandered off to attend to other things.
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"Ahhhh…. This is much better, no da." Chichiri said warmly as he snuggled deeper into Tasuki’s lap and laid his head against Tasuki’s chest.
"Yep." Tasuki agreed and ran his hand through Chichiri’s light blue bangs as they stared out at the lake before them. The shimmering water lapped against the shore and the sound provided the perfect backdrop for a lovely evening.
Tasuki ran his hands along Chichiri’s slender shoulders and over the smooth cloth of Chichiri’s kesa. Chichiri sighed contentedly and looked up at the redheaded bandit and smiled.
Tasuki leaned closer to the monk for a moment and then paused just a few inches away. "Why don’t ya take off your mask, Chichiri?"
Chichiri pulled himself up into a sitting position and
turned to face his friend. "Why,
no da?"
"I want ta see all of you." Tasuki answered breathlessly.
"All of me, no da?" Chichiri responded teasingly, but his voice was deeper than normal and laced with a hint of tenderness.
A brilliant blush crept over Tasuki’s features as he bit his lip and shook his head slightly. "Ya know what I mean." He said quietly.
Chichiri nodded and bent his head slightly as he brought his hand up to the edge of the mask and pulled it away slowly. He closed his eye and waited for a reaction from his friend as he lay the magical covering aside and held his breath in anticipation. His heart beat quickly in his chest and fear danced inside his thoughts when Tasuki didn’t say anything.
Chichiri opened his eye and gasped slightly as he felt Tasuki’s hand cup his cheek and one elegant finger traced its way over the length of his scar and made its way over Chichiri’s trembling lips.
"You’re beautiful, Chiri-chan." Tasuki whispered and bent closer to press his lips against Chichiri’s forehead in a delicate kiss.
Chichiri’s breath caught in his throat and a thousand words of protest floated to the surface of his thoughts, but they all drowned in the look in Tasuki’s eyes when he placed a hand under Chichiri’s chin and lifted his face up so that their eyes could meet.
Chichiri wanted to answer him back and tell the younger man how gorgeous he was as well, but words became useless when he felt Tasuki’s lips on his and he wrapped his arms around the redhead’s broad shoulders and moved his mouth against Tasuki’s.
He threw all of the passion and wonder he felt into that kiss and Tasuki moaned softly as Chichiri thrust his tongue into the bandit’s mouth and reached out to taste the warmth and sweetness of Tasuki’s kiss.
They sat together and marveled at the wonder of it all until long after the sun had set and the stars sparkled above them in the velvety black sky and danced across the glossy surface of the lake below.
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The next day at breakfast, Nuriko, Hotohori, Chiriko and Mitsukake gathered in the dining hall around a long wooden table and waited patiently for the other two of their friends to show up. They glanced at each other nervously and searched for some kind of conversation to fill up the space between them.
Tasuki walked into the room with his head held high and a definite sparkle in his eye, but his good mood was lost on the other seishi who only looked at him with pity.
Nuriko patted him gently on the back before he took his seat and Hotohori shrugged in his direction.
Tasuki just shook his head and glanced back at the door as Chichiri came in. The monk walked over to stand beside Tasuki and placed his arm around the bandit's shoulder. Then he leaned forward to place a light kiss on Tasuki’s cheek and then reached up to remove his mask.
The other seishi stared at the scene in amazement as Chichiri looked down at his feet and then back up at the others. "We kind of have something to tell you all, no da."
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~Owari~