Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ Unreliable Promise ❯ ~Hair Cuts and Confessions~ ( Chapter 2 )

by: AniDragon
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Tasuki glanced at Nuriko nervously. They were standing outside the door to the lunch room, ready to tell the others about their relationship. It was a lot more nerve racking then he imagined it would be. Yet, at the same time, he was happy he was going through with it. He wouldn't have see his lover in secret anymore. And that was something to be thankful for. Besides, if Tamahome dared to say anything it would be just one more reason to go and flame him!!! Yeah!
He finally took a deep breath and opened the door. He quickly spotted the table that his fellow seishi were sitting at and walked towards it, Nuriko following silently behind him.
He cursed under his breath when he noticed that the only available seats at the table were at opposite ends. He sighed in frustration and took a seat next to Miaka. Nuriko sat by Chiriko, who seemed lightly uncomfortable for some reason. (ahem ^_^.)
Everything was silent for a a minute or so. Finally, Chiriko cleared his throat, "Say, Tasuki, Nuriko, don't you two have something to tell us? Something IMPORTANT that you might have forgotten to tell us?"
Tasuki choked on his drink. Miaka patted him on the back, then handed him a glass of water, which he gulped down, mumbling an inaudible "Thanks."
"Anyway, what do you guys need to tell us no da?" Chichiri asked.
Tasuki took another deep breath, "Well, you see..... it's like this.... um... it's a funny story... don't know how to start actually! HAHAHA!!!"
Tamahome let out a laugh, "Jeez, why are you hesitating so much? I mean, it's not like the two of you have been going out behind everyone's backs or anything!"
The table was silent once again after that. Then Nuriko let out a small cough and nodded.
Another brief silence, crickets were heard... and then:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How?! When?!"
"It happened a bit before the Star Gazing festival--" Nuriko began.
"The STAR GAZING FESTIVAL?!?! It's been THAT long?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?!"
"Well, it never really came up... not to mention you never asked, so there!" Tasuki muttered.
"Then why did you decide to tell us now?"
"Um... Chiriko found out...."
"....How?"
"He kinda... um... walked in on us..."
Chiriko blushed and sank into his chair. Chichiri patted him on the head, "Don't worry, I lost my innocence the same way no da."
Miaka smiled, "So Nuriko, I take it that means that your still gay?"
Nuriko blushed, "Um... yeah."
"And Tasuki too, it looks like."
"No duh!" Tasuki shouted.
"That's my line no da!"
There was another awkward silence with more crickets, then Nuriko looked down at Chiriko, who's face was still completely flushed, "Come on! It wasn't that bad! We were just making out! You'll be doing that too as soon as your hormones finally kick in!!" He exclaimed, patting Chiriko on the back. Unfortunately, he forgot to hold back his strength, and ended up sending the poor genius flying into a wall, "Oops..."
Miaka blinked, "Oh, my."
"Sorry Chiriko!" Nuriko called out.
Mitsukake went over the the other side of the room to dig Chiriko out of the now collapsed wall and brought him back to the table, while everyone in the lunch room stared. Actually, they had been staring since Tamahome had first started freaking out, but no one had noticed until just then. Chiriko seemed a bit dazed, but he was still conscious.
"You know what?" Miaka began, "I kinda feel bad for Hotohori."
"Really? Why?" Mitsukake asked.
"Well, I'm with Tamahome, and now Nuriko's with Tasuki, so that leaves him all by himself."
The group vaguely nodded, and Chichiri took a drink of water. Then Nuriko smiled, "Chichiri's available!"
The blue haired monk spat out the water, coughed a few times, then finally regained his composer,
"What brought that up no da?!!!!!!"
"Well... you ARE both available."
"I don't think I'm his majesty's type na no da."
Nuriko shrugged, "Okay then, how about Mitsukake?"
Mitsukake's face paled. Thinking quickly, he stuttered out: "I'm... er... still not over Shoka!"
"Oh... then how about--"
"How can you suggest this stuff so calmly?!" Tamahome cried out.
"Fine, not Mitsukake. And consider yourself lucky I didn't suggest Chiriko."
"I think he's traumatized enough already no da."
Miaka glanced at the said seishi, who still looked quite dazed. She held up two fingers in front of his face, "Hey, Chiriko, how many fingers am I holding up?"
"2 sets of 2, multiplied by 10, divided by 5."
Nuriko blinked, "So... 8?"
Chiriko nodded proudly, "Yep!"
"Maybe I should heal him," Mitsukake suggested.
Tamahome nodded, "Yeah, I think that would probably be a smart and sane idea."
Tasuki grinned, "Maybe, but since when are we smart and sane?"
"You're obviously not! Now I know why you let Nuriko punch you into walls so much. I think you were enjoying it too much!"
"That's IT!!! Reason to flame!!!! Lekka---"
Nuriko quickly grabbed the tessen away from Tasuki, "Now, now, Tasuki-chan! Put that match away, you'll have plenty of time to flame him later."
"......Yes, dear....."
Tamahome snickered, then went into a laughing fit, "Man! I wish I could have recorded that one!"
"....That's it! Nuriko! Give me back my tessen so I can fry this loser!"
"Oh, sit down, you hot headed baka!"
"I think we should get back to serious business no da! We should split up into teams to go look for the shinzaho. I'll go with Chiriko since he's so young. Tasuki should go with Mitsukake, since he should keep his mind on the mission no da."
"What?! That's not fair!"
Tamahome spoke up, "Naturally, I'll go with Miaka."
"Keep you're mind on the mission, my ass!" Tasuki muttered.
"What about Nuriko?" Chiriko asked.
"I'll go with Tasuki and Mits--"
"NO!!!"
".....Or maybe with Tama-kins and Miaka...."
"You're all against us, aren't you?!" The bandit cried out.
"Just drop it Tasuki no da. Miaka just needs the extra protection."
Tamahome looked insulted, "Hey! Are you implying that I can't protect Miaka myself?!"
Chichiri took a deep breath and was about to speak when Mitsukake spoke up, "How about we all go on the mission and stop arguing before Chichiri-san gets a burn out."
The monk let out his breath slowly, "Thank you Mitsukake no da."
"How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?" Chiriko suddenly piped out.
Everyone blinked, then Mitsukake sighed, "Oh yeah, Tamahome interrupted me before I could heal him earlier. I better do it now."
Everyone waited as Mitsukake put his hand on Chiriko's head and activated his healing powers. Once he was done, Chiriko looked around in confusion, "Huh? Did I miss something? Why is everyone staring at me?"
"You were a bit... confused after Nuriko accidentally punched into a wall, so Mitsukake healed you no da. We were just talking about going to look for the shinzaho. You're on my team no da."
"Speaking of going to look for the shinzaho," Tasuki spoke up, "How will we contact the other teams if we find any information? We don't have much time to waste looking for the others."
"I have an idea!" Chiriko said, then took out a few sticks that looked like fireworks or something of the sort, "We'll use these signal flares! You can see them anywhere within the city limits!"
"That's brilliant, Chiriko!" Nuriko exclaimed.
Just then, a drunk guy from another table staggered over and slung his arm around Nuriko, "Hey baby! Why don't ya come sit with us! We'll show you a good time!"
Tasuki was starting to get up from his chair to tell off the guy, but then Nuriko took the drunk's arm and threw him across the room just as he had done with Chiriko, except with a lot more force.
Tasuki relaxed and smiled, "You're so pretty! Guys can't keep their hands off ya!"
"Including you, right Tasuki-kun no da?"
Tasuki threw a glare at the monk while Tamahome laughed, "Yeah, if having two girls around causes such a big stir here, imagine once I'm alone with them!"
Tasuki turned his glare to Tamahome and opened his moulth to yell at the other seishi for changing his complement into an insult, but alas, Nuriko spoke before he could.
"Oh, so I shouldn't look like a girl, then?"
And before anyone could say anything, Nuriko took a knife out of his back pack and quickly, effortlessly, cut off his long purple braid.
Everyone gasped and stared in shock at the now short haired Nuriko.
"Are... Are you sure, Nuriko?" Miaka asked.
"Yeah. I just don't feel the need to cross dress anymore," He said seriously, then smiled, "Besides, I can't have that long braid flapping around while I'm fighting the Seiryuu seishi, now, can I?"
Tasuki was looking at Nuriko as if he was crazy, "I LIKED that hair!"
Nuriko looked down, "Gomen, Tasuki-chan! But... I really felt as if I had to. But..." He took out a small pouch and put the braid in it, then handed it to Tasuki and smiled, "Here, you can keep it."
Tasuki accepted the braid with a small smile, "Seriously? I can keep it?"
"Of course!" Nuriko assured him, his own smile soft.
"Aww! That's so kawai!" Miaka chirped.
Nuriko and Tasuki blushed, realizing that they had went sappy in front of all their friends.
Finally, Chichiri spoke up, "I don't mean to ruin the romantic moment no da, but we shouldn't waste any more time talking no da. We should split up and leave as soon as we finish eating na no da."
"Chichiri-san has a point," Mitsukake agreed, "Let's hurry up."
After hurriedly eating the breakfast that had gotten cold during their argument, they all got up and left the building, going their separate ways. Tasuki grabbed Nuriko's arm right before leaving and pulled him to his chest. Nuriko gave a small cry of surprise, but then gave into the embrace.
"Be careful," Tasuki whispered into his hair, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"Tasuki-chan... You worry too much. I'll be fin--"
Tasuki tightened his embrace, quieting the purple haired seishi, "I'm serious. I love you, and if anything would happen to you, I'd just..."
Nuriko pulled away and smiled at the bandit, "Now, now. Remember our conversation this morning? That works both ways, you know. You're heart will never leave me, and mine will never leave you. That's a promise I know I'll keep."
Tasuki bit his lip, "Alright," He finally said, then smiled, "Just... try not to die on me, k?"
Nuriko pulled Tasuki's head down and pressed their lips together for a short kiss. But then he kissed the bandit again with more passion, trying to put all his feelings into it. Trying to let Tasuki know just how much he meant for him. He didn't know why he was so determined to let him know now. After all, they were only going to be apart for a day or two. It wasn't as if they'd never see each other again. Finally, he pulled away and smiled, "I love you."
"Love ya too, Nuri-koi. Love ya too."
And when Nuriko walked away, he felt a shiver run up his spine. He shrugged it off quickly and went towards where Mitsukake was setting up their horses. Nuriko would be okay. There was no reason to worry.
He'd be just fine.

~End of part 2~

(A/N: Of course, we all KNOW why Tasuki got that bad feeling. *sniffs* Which is why this fic will go from cute and fluffy with mild angst to big drama death fic. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this part, and can't wait to start the next. Please review!)

~AniDragon~