Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ The Girl Who Didn't Believe ❯ A Deal With The Devil ( Chapter 30 )

The Girl Who Didn't Believe

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the FY characters. They belong to Yuu Watase. I do own Kitten and Sable though.

`…' = thoughts

//…// = telepathic conversation

########## = at another place

^^^^^^^^^^ = recall

********** = dream sequence

@@@@@@@@@@ = mirror projection

That's all, minna-san!! Enjoy!!

Chapter 30-A Deal With The Devil

It was too late.

Suzaku stared at his unmoving seishi for a long moment. Meanwhile, Seiryu released everyone and lowered them gently back onto the ground with a slight motion of his hand. The kami was about to stand up when he saw a huge red ki-ball flying his way. The dragon was not very surprised; he merely lifted both hands and made a ki-barrier to diffuse Suzaku's attack.

"YOU KILLED MY SEISHI!!" Suzaku screeched at his brother even as he stomped towards said god. Everyone winced.

Chichiri and the elementals watched with incredulity as their gods started a brawl right there in the room. Genbu and Byakko hurried in to stop the fight, but were very soon involved in the melee. Punches, kicks, yells and screeches were heard in the fray.

Sable was trying desperately to support Kitten; the blue-haired girl's knees had buckled under her when Seiryu returned her to the ground.

"Kit, pull yourself together!!" The brunette shook her friend. Kitten was looking dazed, and tears were still leaking from her eyes.

Kamui, on the other hand, had gone over to Tasuki's side. Remembering the previous false alarm for Tasuki's supposed death, he was taking no chances this time. The blonde began methodically checking for any signs of life within the redhead seishi. Behind him, the chaos continued.

Kitten had managed to force her legs to support her weight now; and she was standing at one corner of the room, blind and deaf to everything. All that she could see was the blue light that had pierced its way painfully into Tasuki, and the tortured expression of her koi. The scene replayed itself again and again in her mind.

`Kirei…'

Kitten paid no attention to the voice that had invaded her head.

`Don't cry, kirei…'

It was stronger this time, and Kitten took heed.

`Nani?'

`You know me, koibito.'

Kitten's eyes widened.

`Tasuki?' She could barely believe it. `Tasuki, is that you?'

`Who else? Baka.'

The blue-haired girl wanted to laugh; it was the first time he had spoken for the past three weeks, but then she remembered, and she sobered.

`Tasuki…does this…does this mean that you are…'

`Dead?' The voiced teased softly.

`H…Hai.'

She heard Tasuki'd amused chuckle.

`Che…you think too lowly of me, onna. I don't die that easy.'

`Then…'

`Look for yourself.' Tasuki's presence faded from her mind.

Bewildered, Kitten started towards Tasuki's bedside, despite Sable's protests. The blue-haired girl stopped beside Kamui, who was shaking his head in amazement. Turning to Kitten, Kamui said, "I will be damned. He is not dead. If he isn't considered lucky, I don't know what is."

Kitten threw a watery smile at Kamui. Eyes brimming with joy, she gently shook Tasuki awake. There was no need to connect their minds; Kitten already knew that Tasuki would wake up this time.

"Come on Tasuki, you have slept enough."

Sure enough, the seishi opened his eyes, and this time, those amber hues were fiercely alive. Kitten could not take it; she started crying.

"What, you are unhappy that I am alive?" Tasuki mocked gently, his voice husky from lack of use. Serious eyes reflected all the love that he had for her.

"I kept my promise, kirei." Tasuki said solemnly.

Kitten merely shook her head and threw herself into his open arms.

The waterworks really started then. Kitten bawled into Tasuki's chest and once in a while, she would fist up her hands and pound on his chest, payment for giving her so much emotional trauma.

Tasuki, bless him, took everything stoically and hushed his koibito, hugging Kitten tightly to him and burying his face in her sweet smelling hair, whispering gruffly to her all the while.

Kamui looked away; the couple deserved some privacy.

Turning, he took in the pandemonium in front of him. It seemed that Sable was the only one to witness Tasuki's recovery, and she smiled happily at Kamui. The gods were still at it and Chichiri and the elementals were trying just as hard to separate said kami. Slightly irked, Kamui wondered why even the gods did not affirm something as important as death before starting to slug out each other, and under his roof too, of all the places. Deciding to end this farce once and for all, Kamui did what he had done the previous time the redhead was `dead'.

"Tasuki is not dead."

Immediate results. Everyone froze at the announcement. Seiryu pushed away everyone who had doggy-piled him earlier and sniffing; he got to his feet and dusted off his armor.

Genbu and Byakko scrambled up next, mortified to be seen in such undignified positions. Suzaku was the last to get up, and he stared at Tasuki, who was staring back at him with incredulity.

"Suzaku?" Tasuki asked. "I thought that we were not going to see you anytime soon?"

The phoenix recovered then, and putting on his snobby air, he looked at Seiryu.

"Since Seiryu had decided to descend to the mortal realms, I had decided to follow him to see what he is doing." Suzaku examined Tasuki closely. "Are you sure that you are alright?"

Tasuki smirked.

"Hai, kami."

Suzaku started muttering something about having cocky seishi, and Genbu and Byakko grinned at each other. Suzaku was not mad anymore; all was well again.

"Why?"

Seiryu stared at Tasuki.

"Why what?" He asked the seishi haughtily.

"Why did you help me?"

That elicited a lot of reactions from the room.

"Huh?"

"Nani?"

"I thought that Seiryu wanted to kill you!!"

"Seiryu? Help?"

Tasuki maintained a determined stare at Seiryu, and at last, the god relented.

"Iie, I did not do anything to save you, Suzaku seishi. Do I look like the type who goes around saving people?" Seiryu smirked.

Turning to the group, he continued, "Tasuki's consciousness was never lost to him; when Akai used his Dragon of Fire on the seishi, the shock was too great for him, and his mind automatically locked away the conscious part of him. Sable might have healed all his external wounds, but she could not touch what is inside:" Seiryu tapped the side of his forehead. "His mind."

"If all of you were to wait a little longer, say a decade or two," Everyone blanched, and Seiryu gave a wolfish grin. "Tasuki would have had gathered enough mental strength to free himself."

"So what you did earlier was that you lent him your ki, so that he would have enough strength to free himself." Kamui concluded.

Everyone stared at Seiryu; they had not known that he would be that giving.

The god shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me like that. It was nothing very heroic; it did not even require a huge sacrifice on my part."

Satisfied, Seiryu smirked. He turned to the elementals next.

"As for the three of you, you may do what you want until I require your services again. I can't be bothered. I am willing to overlook this mission, but…" Blue eyes narrowed. "Make sure that you differentiate business and private affairs the next time. I do not care for failures."

The Celestial Guardians nodded warily.

"Arrigato, Seiryu. It might not be a huge sacrifice on your part, but it had brought me back." Tasuki said sincerely, albeit a little stiffly.

Seiryu fidgeted; he did not react well to being thanked.

"Save your thanks," The dragon god said scathingly. "If I let you die now, who is going to entertain me later?" Tasuki started to huff up with indignation, but Kitten stopped him from growling at the god. "Besides, I have not saved you just because I was feeling magnanimous; your koi had made a deal with me, in fact."

Kitten paled slightly but nodded in agreement.

"Nani? What deal did you make with him, Kit?" Tasuki asked urgently. The girl disengaged herself from the redhead and stood up.

Seiryu answered for Kitten.

"A life for a life." He repeated Kitten's earlier words. "Her life for yours."

Sable squeaked and Tasuki turned white. Suzaku started cursing, but knew that there was nothing much that he could do. Kitten had made the deal on her own will.

The dragon god seemed to enjoy the reactions of the room's occupants. Beckoning to the girl, he purred. "Come, Kitten."

Dried mouth, Kitten stumbled to Seiryu stiffly, despite Tasuki's attempt to anchor her to him.

The dragon god grabbed hold of one of Kitten's hands, and abruptly, he said, "I am bringing her to my domain. I do not care to be entertainment for everyone here."

Thus said, Seiryu, together with Kitten, disappeared, accompanied by Tasuki's howl of anguish.

The remaining gods looked helplessly at Tasuki.

The redhead was trying desperately to get out of bed, despite Kamui and Chichiri's efforts to hold him down.

"Chichiri!! Use your spell to knock him out or something!!" Suzaku yelled.

The blue-haired seishi nodded grimly and began chanting. Almost immediately, Tasuki's struggles ceased and he faded into oblivion soon after.

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

"Anou…" Suzaku looked down to see Sable by his side. "Will Kitten be alright?"

Suzaku's silence was an answer by itself, and Sable bit her lips in distress. Immediately, Chichiri went over and pulled the brunette into his arms.

Suzaku exchanged a glance with his elder brothers.

"I will see what I can do." The phoenix promised before, he too, disappeared with his siblings.

##########

In the realm of the gods…

With hooded eyes, Seiryu stared at the blue-haired girl standing in front of him.

"Why don't you just kill me now." Kitten said quietly. She knew without doubt that this was a heavenly domain; Seiryu's part of the domain, that is.

Seiryu was surprised; most of the time, mortals who made pacts with him had very seldom fulfilled what they had promised. In the end, it was him who had to personally go after them. But this girl had not even tried to deny or bargain with him and for that reason alone, Seiryu decided that Kitten might be more interesting alive than dead.

Kitten stared at Seiryu. He seemed to be deep in his own thoughts.

`Why is he taking so long? The waiting is unbearable.'

"Iie." Seiryu said at last.

"Nani?" Kitten asked, dazed. The relief that she was feeling now was indescribable. "You mean that I need not fulfill my part of the bargain?"

Seiryu smirked.

"Think again."

Kitten visibly deflated in front of the amused kami.

`She would keep her promise even though she is afraid of me, of death.' Seiryu thought with wonder. He decided to stop toying with the girl then.

"Think, girl, if I kill you now, then what about your other challenges from Genbu and Byakko? You are supposed to complete them."

Kitten understood.

"So I am living on borrowed time? Is that what you are telling me?"

Seiryu shook his head again.

"The deal that you made with me was `your life for Tasuki's', am I correct?"

A wary nod.

"That does not mean that I have to kill you. I see no purpose in taking your life. Therefore I think that after you have completed all your challenges, you will stay in the Universe of the Four Gods."

The blue-haired girl was confused.

"How will that fulfill my part of the deal?"

Seiryu smiled sardonically.

"Matte, I am not finished yet. As I said, you will stay in the Universe of the Four Gods, and then I will extract your part of the deal." Using his fingers, he lifted Kitten's chin so that he could look her in the eye. "Do you know what is it?"

Mesmerized by those azure eyes, Kitten shook her head numbly.

Seiryu smirked sensually and lowered his face so that they are mere inches apart before dropping the bomb.

"You are to belong to me, body, heart and soul."

##########

Still in the realm of the gods…

"Did you manage to enter Seiryu's domain?" Suzaku asked his brothers.

Genbu and Byakko shook their heads unhappily.

"We tried all ways to enter, and the result was just like yours. Seiryu had cast a barrier around his domain. There is nothing that we can do. We are being repelled."

Suzaku hissed in helpless frustration and he began to pace around. The three gods were currently right outside Seiryu's territory.

At last, Suzaku lost his temper. Turning to face the dragon's domain, he pounded his fists against the invisible barriers furiously.

"SEIRYU DAMN YOU!! DISSPELL THE BARRIER AND RELEASE KITTEN NOW!!"

##########

Uhhh…in Seiryu's part of the realm of the gods…

Kitten was so surprised by Seiryu's words that she reared back. The girl would have fell on her behind if not for the dragon god's hold on her.

"Na…nani?" Kitten stammered.

Seiryu looked sternly at Kitten.

"This is my offer. If you do not take it, then I will go back down to the mortal realm and take…"

"Hai, I will do it." Kitten agreed quickly.

`Her love for the Suzaku seishi is absurdly strong.' Seiryu thought with mild irritation.

Their faces still inches apart, Seiryu whispered, "That's good then, for you that is." Kitten watched with paralyzed suspense as Seiryu moved even closer, until their noses are almost touching. "Now, to seal the deal with a kiss."

(A/N: AHHHH!!!! I NEED HELP NOW!! I AM SO VERY TEMPTED TO CHANGE MY RATING TO R….DIDN'T KNOW THAT THE BAKA SEIRYU COULD BE SO SEDUCTIVE!! MY TOES ARE CURLING!! >.<)

Kitten whimpered as Seiryu caught her lips in a passionate lip-lock.

Kitten stiffened and started pounding at the god to get him to let her go. However, Seiryu did not budge and Kitten gave up and sagged against the man. Her eyes fluttered close and…

`Good,' Seiryu thought with satisfaction. `She might as well relax and enjoy this.'

…and a drop of tear leaked out from her closed lids.

`Nani?' The dragon was so surprised by Kitten's tears that he ended the kiss immediately and withdrew from the girl.

"Stop crying." Seiryu's voice was gruff.

Sniffling, Kitten looked up. The god was a few feet away with his back facing her.

Awkward silence, and then, suddenly, "SEIRYU DAMN YOU!! DISSPELL THE BARRIER AND RELEASE KITTEN NOW!!"

The said god cringed inwardly at his brother's shrill voice. (A/N: Don't take me wrongly, but in my fic, Suzaku will have a wonderfully deep voice unless he is shrieking like a, pun fully unintended, chicken without its head. Come on, he is a phoenix, the shrill screeches comes with the entire package. ^^)

"You may return now. They are looking for you already." Seiryu said brusquely even as he mentally removed the barrier. His brothers will be upon them soon. He turned to face the girl and took in her dazed amethyst eyes and kiss-swollen lips.

"Just remember our deal." He murmured softly this time.

Sure enough, Suzaku, Byakko and Genbu arrived right away. The phoenix rushed straight to Kitten and checked that she was alright. Byakko and Genbu merely took in Kitten's mussed hair and reddened lips and eyed Seiryu with interest.

The dragon god feigned ignorance.

Kitten assured Suzaku that she was perfectly unharmed and that Seiryu had decided to collect his debt some other time. She did not specify what Seiryu wanted, but Suzaku was contented with those answers. Throwing a dirty look at Seiryu, he prepared to teleport Kitten back to Kamui's mansion.

Seiryu watched everything with a carefully feigned look of disinterest.

Just as Kitten and Suzaku were about to disappear from sight, Kitten peeked at Seiryu and unconsciously touched her fingers to her lips. The three gods watched as the girl faded from sight together with their youngest brother.

Almost immediately, Genbu and Byakko rounded on Seiryu.

"Okay, what was that about?" Byakko demanded.

"Yeah, Suzaku might have been a baka and missed the entire thing, but we didn't. Why did you kiss the girl?"

Seiryu put on a look of extreme boredom and shrugged.

"It was just a kiss to seal our deal."

The two elder gods did not look very convinced.

"Some kiss. It looked very passionate to me." Byakko hinted slyly. "Are you sure that's all it is about?"

Seiryu turned away from his brothers and began walking away.

"Inquisitive idiots…" He muttered loud enough for Genbu and Byakko to hear. "And yes, that's all to it."

Azure eyes narrowed with resolve.

`I won't allow for it to become anything more.'

##########

Tasuki opened his eyes and blinked. His internal clock told him that it was around one in the morning.

`Where am I?'

The sleep had disoriented him, but it did not take him long to remember everything that had happened.

"Shimatta. Kitten." The redhead started use his hands push himself up but one of his hands seemed to be weighed down by something. Turning, he looked at what was hindering him, and saw Kitten.

He stared at the slumbering girl in confusion. She was sitting on a chair by his bed and had leaned over to rest her head on his hand.

`I thought that Seiryu…'

Just then, Kitten began to stir. Sleepy amethyst eyes stared at amber ones, before widening. Kitten shot up.

"Tasuki!! You are awake!! Daijoubu ka?"

The redhead nodded.

"I thought that Seiryu took you?" Kitten looked away; and Tasuki knew that he was correct; it was not a dream.

"Who got you back?"

"Suzaku," came the soft whisper. "Seiryu allowed him to bring me back."

"What about your deal?"

Kitten looked back to Tasuki.

"He will collect it later, after the challenges."

Tasuki hesitated before asking the next question.

"Is he going to kill you?"

Kitten debated on lying to Tasuki, but honesty won out at last, and the girl shook her head.

"Iie, he is not planning to kill me."

Tasuki felt an impending sense of doom. Kitten was not telling him everything.

"What did he want from you then?"

Kitten refused to answer and was about to vacate the room when Tasuki gripped hold of her hand.

"Kit," the seishi's voice was desperate. "Please tell me."

Kitten stared at Tasuki for a long while. Then she caved in. Throwing herself at her koi, she felt her tears fall and in bits and pieces, she told him everything.

Making soothing sounds, Tasuki hugged Kitten and listened. When Kitten was done, the redhead found himself shaking with repressed rage.

The room was quiet except for Kitten's ragged breathing.

"Tasuki?"

"Hmm?"

The blue-haired girl looked at Tasuki.

"Are you…are you ashamed of me now?"

All trace of anger fled, and Tasuki stared incredulous at Kitten.

"Ashamed?" He asked her. "Why should I be ashamed of you? You, the little baka who loved me so much that you stupidly exchanged yourself for my life, you whom I love equally as much. I don't know who is the bigger baka, you or me. I am pissed off at you right now, but I will never be ashamed of you."

Kitten nodded.

"I…" She turned her face into his shirt, and Tasuki felt warm wetness soak the fabric. "I am so afraid that you'd think badly of me and leave me."

"Baka." He whispered fiercely. "I told you before; leaving you is something that I would never do willingly. As for the deal with Seiryu, we will worry about it when the time comes. Together."

Kitten held on tightly to Tasuki.

"I am glad."

Contented to be together again, the pair stayed close to each other. Silence dominated the room; the two of them found no need to break the peaceful solitude of the room and very soon, Kitten was lulled to sleep by the comforting warmth of Tasuki's body.

Tasuki looked fondly at his sleeping koibito. It was obvious that she had lost a lot of weight, and that fatigue had made her pale. It was also obvious that there were dark smudges under her eyes. Tasuki mentally promised himself to fatten the girl up and also to make sure that she got lots of rest.

`I have caused you to suffer so, kirei.' He stroked her shiny hair. `Gomen ne, I will try to be a better koi to you from now on.'

Tasuki wanted very much to watch over Kitten while she slept, but the day's events proved to be too exhausting even for him, and he fell reluctantly into slumber.

Safe in each other's arms, the young couple had the first restful sleep in three weeks.

You guys guessed it!! (Though I was pretty obvious) Tasuki is alive!! ^^ Of course, if I really did kill off Tasuki, what will happen to Kitten? Lotsa Tasuki/Kitten WAFF to give everyone a huge toothache!!

And as for the `deal with Seiryu' part, it was all I could do not to change the rating to R. My apologies for the A/N that I had inserted earlier. Gomen ne, I could not resist. ^^ *purrs* Seiryu is such a seductive character. After all, nothing is as sensual as a dragon, yes? *shivers in delight* Well, it might also be the hormones…^^

Thanks to Nuriko no Mikos for beta-editing this chapter. Domo!!

So readers, be sure to review to tell me what you think about this chapter. I need all the feedbacks that I can get. And until the next time, ja!!