Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Learning to Heal ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Final Warning: This is a yaoi story that will contain a N/C scene, and a lemon. If this bothers you, read no further.

 

This story has not been beta'd, any mistakes are my own. Reviews are greatly appreciated, but not demanded. I just want you to enjoy the story! Also, you may have seen this story before on AFF.net. The story has been changed a little, and has no buggy formating, hopefully.

 

Disclaimer- Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Yuu Watase, and not to me. If it did, Chichiri and Tasuki would frequently be naked. Together. On with the story!

 

-ct_sama

 

 

Learning to Heal

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Chichiri was lost in thought as he walked the hidden path to Tasuki's Mt. Reikaku hideout. On his last visit to his fiery haired friend, he had agreed to come back in two months after running some errands for Taiitsukun. He was returning as promised, but was unsure of the welcome he would receive. He and Tasuki had not parted in the best of ways.

 

The bandit leader had caught Chichiri attempting to sneak away early one day. He made good excuses, of course, but was fairly certain that Tasuki had not bought any of them. The bandit had been stricken, but let him go on the promise that he would be back in a couple of months.

 

Truth be told, Chichiri thought to himself, his time spent away from Mt. Reikaku was terrible for him. Tasuki had become the bright spot in his life, and he looked forward to every minute that he spent with the bandit. His love for Tasuki had grown slowly over the years, and was now something that could no longer be denied.

 

He spent his two months either in solitude, trying to decide whether or not to approach the irrepressible bandit, or on Mt. Taikyoku in counsel with Taiitsukun. He chuckled to himself as he remembered her command to him. Tasuki would never believe that he had staunch ally in the `Old Hag!'

 

He had been preparing himself to ignore his feelings for Tasuki and to suffer in silence until his visit to Taiitsukun. Upon his arrival, she had cleared away the Nyan-Nyans that had attached themselves to their beloved sorcerer with some gruff words. As he bowed to her and told her how much he had missed her, he had been soundly whapped over the head.

 

“Itaiiiiii!!! What was that for?!?!?!”

 

“Dummy!!! You march right back down there and tell that boy you love him! If you don't, I'll sic Nyan-Nyan on you until you do, understand?”

 

As much as Chichiri loved the well intentioned creatures, they got on his nerves something awful after a few days.

 

The threat itself was enough to give him pause, but it was her words that made him seriously reconsider. Taiitsukun had saved him once. After Hikou's death, Chichiri had been only a shell of a man, broken completely. She had brought him to Mt. Taikyoku, and sowed the seeds of healing in his soul, no matter how he denied that he deserved to heal. She began to teach him, and after he accepted her counsel, given him a reason to live again. She was a harsh taskmaster, and even quite mischievous at times, but there was no way she would advise him to something she knew would hurt him. And she was (not so subtly) prodding him to reveal his feelings to Tasuki.

 

And so, here he was, walking the path to back to Tasuki, and a week early to boot. The smile on his face had little to do with the mask he wore.

 

Unfortunately, his current mood made him a ripe target for the trap that awaited him.

 

“DAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!”

 

Upside down and swinging from one ankle from a tree, a pair of bright amber eyes and a fanged grin came into Chichiri's view. “Bwahahahahaa!”

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“Chiri, I'm disappointed! I can't believe ya walked right into somethin' this simple!”

 

“Oh, don't look so pleased with yourself, na no da! The only reason you got me this time is because I've got a lot on my mind, no da!” He heaved an upside-down sigh, and looked around for Koji and the others. “Well, get them out here and let's get this over with, no da.”

 

It had turned into a game with the bandits. Chichiri's inherent ability to sniff out a trap and deftly avoid it was a great help to Koji and Tasuki. New traps and ambush techniques had to be devised to get anywhere near catching him, and whoever came the closest got a sort of patent on the trap, in the form of a larger share of any loot gained from it.

 

Tasuki's grin turned a little sheepish as he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. “Well, I kinda halted the game for just this once. You just looked so upset and left in such a hurry last time that I wanted ta make sure things were all good before the guys started in on ya…”

 

Chichiri saw an opening to get one of those mega watt smiles out of Tasuki and went for it without hesitation. “So, we're the only ones out here, no da?”

 

“Yep, only ones for miles arou-- hey, what the--??”

 

Chichiri had grabbed for his kesa, and threw it into the air, blocking Tasuki's view of him. As it drifted down, there was nothing but the rope dangling from the branch in the tree.

 

Chichiri only gave him a moment to realize what had happened before launching himself at his intended victim with a mighty war cry.

 

“DAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

 

Tasuki hit the ground with a thud and a self-satisfied Chichiri kneeling over him. He broke off into peals of laughter at the smug look on his friend's face. Chichiri knew how much it amused Tasuki to be bested in banditry by a monk; it never failed.

 

“I win again, no da! No one else would have believed that you caught me with such a simple trap anyway, you know.” As Tasuki's laughter faded slowly away, Chichiri knew he needed to get up off of his friend before his body betrayed him.

 

The rough bandit got up and dusted himself off promising that next time, things would be different. As they headed off up the mountain, the evening was filled with Tasuki's tales of everything the monk had missed in the last two months. As he chattered on, Chichiri silently promised himself that he wouldn't be gone this long again. He did not intend to leave Tasuki after this, ever.

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Chichiri's return was celebrated in true revelrous bandit fashion, with lots of good food and good wine. The bandits were extremely friendly and truly liked the monk and were always thrilled to have another one of the legendary Suzaku seishi in the camp. He stayed close to Tasuki as usual, just soaking in the other man's energy.

 

As he ate and laughed with the others, Chichiri watched the younger man out of the corner of his eye, trying to think of the best way to determine whether or not his friend would be remotely interested in becoming his lover as well.

 

In all the time that Chichiri had known Tasuki, he'd never even seen the bandit look at anyone in a sexual way, besides the time he'd acted under influence and gone after Miaka. There had to be a reason for that, and he had to find out what it was before trying anything. Knowing Tasuki as he did, he knew his friend had probably never really thought about his sex life in depth before, so talking to him was perhaps the best way of finding out where to go next.

 

Chichiri was startled out of his thoughts by a firm thump on the back. “Itaiii!! What was that for, na no da?!”

 

His friend grinned up a storm. “You were starin' into nowhere for so long I had ta make sure you were still breathin'! Ya know, if yer just gonna sit there, we might as well go talk about whatever's eatin' ya.”

 

`Well,' Chichiri thought, `here goes nothing. Everything. Whatever.' “All right, no da. Back to your room?”

 

“Sure thing, Chiri.” `It's about damn time…'

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Tasuki knew that trying to draw Chichiri into a conversation on the way back to his room would be useless; the monk would talk when he was good and ready, and there was no point in pushing him. Thankfully, it was a short walk because he couldn't take this much longer. Knowing that his closest friend was shutting him out for some reason made him feel sick. By the time they were settled in his room, it felt like an eternity had passed.

 

“Tasuki, I want to talk with you. No matter what I ask, just try to answer me the best you can, okay no da?”

 

“Sure, anything ya want. Just take off that mask first?” Tasuki figured that whatever Chichiri had in mind, it was going to be hard enough without trying to guess at what his friend was thinking or feeling.

 

Chichiri obliged his request after only a moment's hesitation. “Have you ever had sex with a woman?”

 

Tasuki blinked a few times and tried very hard to remember his promise to answer all of Chichiri's questions seriously.

 

“Well, aside from that time I damn near raped Miaka,” Tasuki's face was suffused with shame for an instant, “I hit the whorehouses with the guys when they want to, but aside from a couple a blow jobs in my first times goin' there, I mostly just stay at the bar and drink while the other guys go upstairs with the girls. Anyways, gettin' laid has never been that high on my list of things to do.”

 

“You never wanted to go any further, no da?”

 

“Not really. I know I told Miaka I wouldn't say it anymore, but I really don't much like girls. Every time I see some woman's tits I flash back to nearly gettin' smothered by my Mom's when I was a baby. Besides, even with those blow jobs, it didn't feel good.” He stopped and shook his head. “Well, that's not it exactly… I guess it just didn't feel… right.”

 

The pieces started falling together for Chichiri.

 

“What about other men?”

 

“Koji and I used ta fool around when we were younger, but it was nothin' past jerkin' each other off… He wanted a lot more from me than I was wantin' to give him, though.” The bandit blushed almost as red as his hair, but continued to talk. If Chiri was asking, he at least owed the man the whole answer. He just hoped he didn't say the wrong thing and make him leave again.

 

“There were no hard feelings or anything though. He told me that the invitation was open if I ever changed my mind. I never meant to take him up on it though 'cause it still didn't feel right, even though he was my best friend.” He thought for a second. “Felt better than with those girls though…” Tasuki shook his head and turned from the window to face Chichiri again, crossing his arms. “Hey, I wanted to find out what was eatin' at you! Why are you askin' me all these questions about my lack of a sex life when you're the one who lit outta here like your tail was on fire; are we ever gonna talk about you?”

 

Chichiri pondered this for a moment before asking, “If I left again, would you come with me, no da?”

 

Tasuki grinned a wolfish smile and strode from the room. “You just wait right here.” While he was gone, the monk took the opportunity to slip his mask back into place. He had enough answers for now.

 

He returned after a moment with Koji, who was grinning from ear to ear. “Just make sure ya keep him outta my hair for a good long while. It's about time I got ta decide things around here without fang-boy butting in!”

 

In response, Tasuki whapped him over the head with his fist, “Idiot! Just don't run things into the ground while I'm gone!” He shot a grin over his shoulder at his friend before walking over to Chichiri. “Well?”

 

Chichiri smiled at Tasuki's implicit trust in him. The bandit hadn't even asked where they were going or why so soon. He spread his kesa on the ground and struck it with his staff after intoning a few spells. “After you, no da!”

 

Having gained a little (very little) grace at teleporting through the kesa over the years, Tasuki managed to hop into it without screeching or falling over, but Chichiri was certain that there would be a lump of tangled bandit on the other side.

 

Just as he was about to sink into the kesa himself, he was interrupted. “Oi, Chichiri? Don't bring `im back `til you fix him. He takes care of everybody here, but he's miserable, and has been for a long time. I thought I could do it, but… Well, good luck.”

 

Briefly he wondered what that admission had cost Koji. As he resumed his slide down into the kesa, he removed his mask and regarded Koji with one intent brown eye. “Thank you, Koji.”