Chapter Eight-

“NISHIKO!!!”
My eyes flicked open quickly. Where was I? I was in a bed. Lying down. With Amiboshi’s arm around me.
“Holy shit! You are so lucky I’m here! Get out of my bed now!!”
I looked to where the shouting was coming from and saw Jiyu standing, outraged beside the bed. Amiboshi ly next to me, shirtless. He had just woken up and he clutched his shirt to his bare chest in embarrassment.
“Jiyu!” I gasped, pulling up the straps on my dress, “what are you doing here?!”
Jiyu rolled his eyes, “This is my room! And I never gave you and your boyfriend permission to have sex in it!”
Amiboshi and I turned bright red, “Jiyu! We didn’t have sex!!”
Jiyu raised an eyebrow, “Come on, Nishiko. You two are asleep in my bed, half dressed, and I’m suppose to believe you two are still virgins?”
“It’s true!” and it was. Amiboshi and I hadn’t done anything that bad last night and we were still very much virgins.
“Look, I don’t care--”
“Jiyu!”
“Nishiko! Get out of my room!”
Amiboshi and I stumbled out of his bed, Amiboshi pulling his shirt back on. Jiyu gazed at Amiboshi, “You seem pretty cool, but if I find out you do anything to hurt my sister, I’ll--”
“Jiyu! Leave him alone!” I exclaimed, pulling Amiboshi away. Jiyu caught my arm, “This is the second time I’ve saved your ass. What would you have done if mom or dad had come down here?”
I paled at the thought.
He sighed, “Just get going.”
I nodded and Amiboshi and I climbed out the window. I peeked in, “Just tell mom and dad I’m at Akai’s, ‘kay?”
He nodded gruffly and I got up off the ground and turned to Amiboshi. He smiled at me, then gently, almost hesitantly pulled me to him and kissed me softly on the lips. Memories of last night floated back, and I kissed him in return. We began off to Akai’s, holding hands. I don’t think I could have been happier.
As we were walking, I suddenly noticed we were in our prom clothes still. Damn, they were wrinkled! I stopped and gazed at our clothes, “Oh crap,” I muttered, struggling to smooth out my dress, “we’re going to walk into Akai’s house in the clothes we wore yesterday, and they’re both very wrinkled. This is not going to look good.”
Amiboshi blushed a little, “But we didn’t...”
“I know,” I said, but in this day and age, it’s extemely hard to prove you’re a virgin, especially showing up in yesterday’s wrinkled clothes.”
He shrugged, “What can we do?”
I glanced up at my room window, “There’s no way I can get into my room without my parents seeing me, and they might wonder why I’m still in my prom dress.”
He bit his lip, “Guess we’ve got to go to Akai’s and change there.”
I cringed at the thought of showing up at Akai’s like this, but he was right, and we had no other options.
We walked the whole way there, holding hands, and talking about various stuff. When we got to Akai’s, I catiously peeked in the door. No Akai. No Tasuki. I silently ushered Amiboshi in and was about to make my way for Akai’s room when Amiboshi caught my arm. “Nishiko,” he whispered, pulling me downstairs, “look.”
I looked into the guest bedroom to see Akai and Tasuki asleep. Together. She had her arms around him and he was nestled up next to her. I smiled. Aww, how sweet...and bad! Of course, I considered, Jiyu had found us (Amiboshi and I) in basically the same situation. I smiled at this. Finally, they were together.
Suddenly, Akai’s eyes began to flutter open. I bit back a smile as she looked over at us, “N-Nishiko.”
“Akai,” I replied back, smirking and crossing my arms over my chest as I leaned against the wall.
She squinted at me, “You’re still in your prom clothes...and they’re all rumpled,” she seemed to process this and I felt my face begin to get hot. In the haste of being happy for her and Tasuki, I’d forgotten about the clothes. Akai clapped her hands together in delight, “oh, I’m so happy for you!” Tasuki made a grumpy noise at being disturbed and Akai glanced at him, “let’s go upstairs so we won’t wake him up.”
“I’m changing,” I said quickly, hurrying up the stairs to Akai’s room, “then we got some discussing to do, missy!”
“Me? I wouldn’t be talking,” she scoffed, “I’ve got an excuse. And it’s clean too.”
I turned to glare at her and opened my mouth to comeback, but turned, “After I change,” and shut Akai’s door behind me, leaving Amiboshi to fend for himself.
I found a pair of jeans of Akai’s and a shirt I’d left there before and changed as quickly as I could, knowing that leaving Amiboshi alone with Akai for too long could be dangerous.
I came out and came down the stairs to face Akai. I brought an accusing finger up, ready to defend Amiboshi and I, but realized I had nothing. I stood, stuck for a moment, and Amiboshi piped up behind me, “Nothing happened.”
Akai looked at him and burst out laughing, “Oh, that’s a good one! You’re a good liar, Ami-chan¹ .”
I narrowed my eyes, “Shut up, Akai! I wouldn’t think you had any reason to talk! We found you in the same bed with Tasuki with your arms around each other.”
“Yeah, but I had a good reason,” she said, “give me a good reason for you showing up in last nights clothes and I’ll leave you alone.”
I glared at her, blushing. What do you say when you haven’t done anything, but you’re not totally innocent either.
Luckily, Amiboshi came to my rescue, “It’s really none of your business, Akai,” he told her softly, “although I will tell you we didn’t...” he seemed to blush at the very thought of it.
“But you’re together, aren’t you?” she asked seriously.
I looked down at the floor, flushed. Now that I thought about it, we were. The thought made me smile a bit and I glanced at Amiboshi, who smiled shyly at me.
“I guess,” I said softly, still looking at my feet.
“Good,” she smiled, “then I don’t have to yell at you for having a majiwaru marathom without telling me.”
“Akai!” I exploded, “we didn’t have sex!”
She shrugged, “Sure, Nishiko, whatever you say.
“What’s going on?” came a sleepy voice from behind us. We turned to see Tasuki, still tired and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Akai smiled at him, “Good morning. Nishiko and Amiboshi had sex.”
My eyes grew to the size of saucers and I smacked Akai roughly on the arm, “Akai!”
Tasuki raised an eyebrow at Amiboshi, “I thoughtcha were too proper ta touch a girl.”
Amiboshi flushed, “I...”
“I guess we underestimated him, right, Ami-chan?” Akai nudged Amiboshi suggestively.
“Nishiko, I thoughtcha hated guys,” Tasuki spoke up.
“Yeah, the ones like you,” I snapped.
“Ouch,” he grinned crookedly at me, “are ya always this grumpy after sex?”
I hit him this time, “Amiboshi, just get changed. We’ll leave then.”
“Oh why?” Akai asked, “hang around a while.”
I snorted, “Sure, you expect us to stay when we’re being treated so badly?”
“Oh, you know we’re just joking. I think it’s great that you two are finally together,” Akai smiled.
“Yeah,” Tasuki agreed, “’bout damn time. Now maybe I won’t hafta see Amiboshi moping around because ‘Nishiko doesn’t like him.’”
Amiboshi blushed, looking at the floor as I turned my gaze to him. He shyly went off to change. It struck me as odd. Amiboshi had been sad because he thought I hadn’t liked him? How weird was that? I’d been thinking the exact same thing!
I smiled softly. Finally, everything was perfect. It felt more wonderful than I could describe to know Amiboshi felt the same way about me. I was so happy I could just float up to Cloud Nine. For once in my life, everything was going right.
“So,” Akai said, “what’s it like being together with the guy of your dreams?”
I sighed happily and sank down to the floor, leaning against the door, “Wonderful. Better than wondeful. I wasn’t even this happy with Akio.”
“Lucky. I’m so jealous of you,” Akai said, watching Tasuki wander out of the room.
I cocked an eyebrow, “Why? You slept with him last night.”
Her eyes grew huge, “Slept with him?! I did not!”
I rolled my eyes, “You sick-minded girl, you. I meant actually ‘slept.’”
She seemed to relax a little, “Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
I cocked an eyebrow again, saying flattly, “Intrigue me.”
“It doesn’t mean anything. We’re not together. I...um...slept with him because...” she waved her arms, “it’s hard to explain. He’s homesick.”
I furrowed my brow sympathetically, “Awww, no. Poor Tasuki,” I sighed, disheartened suddenly, “what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed, “but Nishi-chan...he looked so unhappy. I sat with him for awhile, and when he went to bed, he asked me to...stay. I think he really misses them.”
I sighed also, “No doubt.But, Akai,” I lowered my voice, glancing around, “we don’t know how to send them back.”
She nodded, “I promised him he’d be home soon but...I don’t know how I can keep my promise now.”
I shook my head, but Amiboshi suddenly came back into the room in casual clothes. Seeing our unhappy faces, he froze and stepped back, “Did I come in at a bad time?”
Akai forced a smile, “No, we were just talking about Tasuki-kun.”
He nodded, coming up the stairs further and turning to me, “Nishiko, can I talk to you a moment?”
I nodded and we went into the living room, leaving Akai to follow Tasuki.
I was nervous. What if he was going to say that last night hadn’t meant anything, or that he’d changed his mind, and he wanted to just be friends?
I felt him touch my arm and I turned. He pulled me down onto the couch nect to him, saying, “Sit.” I let out a nervous laugh and he did also. I rubbed my arm, “What is it?”
He was silent, then said, “Nishiko, are you sure about this?”
Oh God, it was happening. Another rejection. Another ‘I just like you as a friend.’ My heart felt crushed and I avoided his eyes. Instead of answering, I played dumb, “Sure about what?”
He stared at me, then looked down, “Well...about...what happened between us.”
My heart felt even more crushed and I knew if he said more I’d be brought to tears. I was so dumb. I was dumb again, letting a guy know how I felt, through my actions this time, and now I was going to be hurt again.
“Nishiko?”
I lowered my eyes, “Amiboshi, you’re making this harder for me...”
He was silent, staring at me. I couldn’t look at him. Suddenly, he got to his feet. “I understand,” he said in an almost choked voice. He began to leave, leaving me confused as all hell, but I whirled around on the couch and exclaimed, “Understand what?”
He didn’t turn to face me, and had his head lowered, “I won’t make it harder for you to...to dump me.”
I nearly choked. “Dump you?!” I exclaimed, “of course not! I thought you were going to dump me!”
He whirled around to stare at me, “What?”
I suddenly got it. We both thought we were going to dump each other! I laughed suddenly and stood, “What a misunderstanding! I thought you were planning to dump me and you thought I was planning to dump you.”
“So...you’re not planning to dump me?” he asked unsurely.
I shook my head, approaching him and smiling, “No. I could never even think of it. But...to be dumped...” I bit my lip, smiling a little more, “...wouldn’t we have to be together?”
He suddenly got what I was getting at and smiled, coming to me. He slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him for a gentle, slow kiss. His lips were so warm and soft against my own. He hugged me then, grazing my cheek lightly with his lips, and I held him back. We stood, embracing each other for a while, before I let go and smiled, “I’d better iron out prom clothes. We still have to return your tux.” I looked to Akai’s room and hollered, “Akai! Do you have an iron?”
I heard her shout something at Tasuki, who came running out of her room, followed by a flying pillow. After that, Akai shouted, “Downstairs!”
I looked at Tasuki and sighed, “What’d you do now?”
He narrowed his eyes, “Nothin’! It was her own fault! Jeez, ya women always stick tagether and then go fer the throat!”
I smiled, moving away from Amiboshi to go downstairs and saying in a sarcastic tone, “Of course. We need to protect ourselves from big, bad, dangerous men like you.”
I smirked at him, and he stared at me, then smiled self assuredly, obviously not picking up on my sarcasm, “Damn right. We bandits are pretty dangerous.”
I stopped and stood my ground in front of him, proving to be almost a whole foot shorter than him. None the less, I sneered, “You don’t scare me. I could take you down if I wanted to,” I began to walk away, calling over my shoulder, “but I’m a pacifest.”
I went downstairs and began to rummage through things till I found the ironing board and iron, and stopped in the guest room to grab Amiboshi’s suit. I came back up the stairs, nearly tripping and dropping everything, especially the heavy ironing board.
Akai looked up, “Need some help?”
I shook my head and waddled past her and Tasuki to the family room, where I set everything down and began to unfold the board. I plugged the iron in to heat up and turned to the others.
Tasuki crossed his arms across his broad chest and leaned against the wall casually, “So, how ya gonna get us home?”
I froze, then looked at Akai expectantly. I had no answer and I sure as hell wasn’t gonna be the one to tell him we didn’t know how.
Akai looked around nervously, then said quietly, “Well, um, we don’t exactly...know...how...”
Tasuki didn’t yell like he had before, but a cold expression grew on his face. He glowered and sat down roughly in the chair that’d been next to him, “Ya don’t really know much, do ya, Akai?”
Akai looked at the floor, a little shocked, “S...sorry.”
I felt a tinge of anger at Tasuki, being so harsh to Akai, but I kept my mouth shut. There wasn’t anything I could do. I let out a frustrated sigh, and turned my back to them, beginning to iron.
I suddenly heard Amiboshi start playing his flute. It was a calmish, peaceful tune. I glanced over at him, and his eyes smiled at me, and he shrugged a little. I smiled, knowing what he was doing, and knowing it was working. It was already beginning to make me feel a little better.
“Do ya ever quit playin’ that damn flute?!” Tasuki exclaimed angrily, and the flute music immediatly stopped. I looked at Amiboshi, who was looking at the flute he held in his lap with a sad, helpless expression. I felt my anger boil up. Okay, first my best friend, now my boyfriend. This bandit boy was going too far.
I turned around to Tasuki, a death glare on my face, “His flute music is ten times better to listen to than your bitching, so leave him alone!” I snapped furiously.
Tasuki narrowed his eyes at me furiously, then got up, muttering a name of what he thought of me before storming out of the room.
I sighed frustratedly again and cried, “I’m sorry, Akai, but he pisses me off!”
“Don’t be sorry,” she sighed softly, “it’s not your fault.”
I didn’t reply but began ironing again, then spoke up quietly, “Don’t let it get to you...what he says. He just angry, and probably scared, just too macho to admit it.”
“No, he’s right,” she sat down slowly and pulled her knees to her, “I messed up again.”
I put the iron down and turned around swiftly, “Akai! How could you mess up?! By not getting him home?? How the hell are we suppose to know that?! How can he expect that from us?! We don’t know any kind of magic! We’re not Taiis-kun or Chichiri!”
“Nishiko...” Amiboshi said in a warning kind of tone.
“No,” I went on angrily, “he has no right to treat you like that for something you cannot possibly help.”
“But I made a promise,” she said, not looking up, “I made a promise I couldn’t keep and now he hates me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
I looked at her sadly. She felt this was all her fault, I knew. I felt bad for her and mad at Tasuki, and mad at this whole situation. I sighed, “He just has to understand that we can’t do anything about it. But he doesn’t hate you, Akai. Do you want me to talk to him, or Amiboshi?”
“No, let him work off some steam. It won’t do you any good if he fries you.”
I snickered, “Fry a pacifest? How decietful!”
She smiled weakly and got up, “I’m gonna get something to eat. You want anything?”
I shook my head, “No thanks.” Amiboshi just shook his head.
As Akai left, I wandered over and sat down next to Amiboshi on the couch, “Please don’t ever act like Tasuki,” I begged, taking him hand.
He chuckled softly, “Tasuki’s not all that bad.”
I raised an eyebrow, “You’re not seeing him from a girl’s perspective,” then the irony of his statement struck me, “man, that’s pretty weird coming from a Seiryuu seishi.”
He nodded, “I’m actually very fond of the Suzaku seishi. They were very nice to me.”
I watching him sadly, “It didn’t seem like you wanted to kill them.”
He looked away, frowning, “I didn’t.”
“You two are so cute.”
We both looked up to see Akai had come back in the room and sat back down on the chair.
We blushed, when suddenly, Tasuki came back in the room. We were all silent, and he wandered over, sitting in the chair across from Akai. He didn’t say anything, but looked more calmed down. I simply scooted closer to Amiboshi, and he put his arm around my waist silently.
Finally, Akai stood up and walked over to Tasuki. She took a deep breath before saying, “Tasuki, I’m sorry. I made a promise I couldn’t keep...and I was wrong. I don’t know how to send you home, but I’ll try to find a way. I know I made a mistake, but..”
She trailed off and Amiboshi and I turned to Tasuki in unison, awaiting his reply.
I saw a faint smile on his face, and he shrugged indifferently, “I...I’m sorry too. I guess it isn’t yer fault, since ya don’t know magic and stuff...”
I smiled happily. Yes, Tasuki! You’re not being an idiot for once! I stood up, pulling Amiboshi up with me and smiled, “Well, Amiboshi and I should be heading back. My parents’ll be worried. Don’t stay up too late.”
I pulled Amiboshi with me to the front door and shouted a quick goodbye before shutting the door behind us.
Once we were outside, Amiboshi turned to me, “Why’d we leave so soon?”
I rolled my eyes, “Silly, you’re almost as dense as Tasuki.”
“Oh,” he seemed to get it, “about them being...together?”
“Yeah,” I sighed, “hopefully they’ll get it together soon.”
He took my hand and we began to walk, “Yeah.”
We got back to my house and climbed in through Jiyu’s window. Luckily, he was not there, and I went to go upstairs to check in with my parents. They were not too happy with me for being gone so much, and I apologized and said I’d be home more often. They gave me a skeptical look, then sent me off on my way. I headed downstairs, and was passing through the kitchen when a figure caught my eye. Amiboshi was sitting , his knees pulled up to him, under the long counter, and leaning against the part that went to the floor. He looked very sad and off in another world (whoa! what a paradox!). He glanced up at me as I stopped. I looked down at him, my tone full of sympathy, “Are you okay?”
He gently took my hand and pulled me down next to him, “I’m okay.”
I brought a hand up to brush the greenish hair from his eyes, “You sure?”
He looked away, taking my hand and squeezing it gently, “You’re parents...they...”
I suddenly remembered about his parents, how they’d been killed in the war. The poor guy. Sure, my parents weren’t every teenagers dream, but they were better than nothing.
I put my arms around him and snuggled closer, laying my head on his chest. He seemed surprised at this, but held me around my waist.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed sadly, “It must hurt a lot. I wish there were something I could--”
He cut me off, raising my chin slightly and pressing his lips to mine.
Suddenly, to my horror, we heard footsteps and my parents voices. We froze in mid-kiss, backed against the counter, our eyes wide. They were on the other side of the counter, so they couldn’t see us, and they were talking about my dad’s motorcycle club.
As they got ice cream and pop corn, we still had our lips pressed together, too afraid to move at all. They finally went upstairs, and we pulled away, sighing with relief.
“I think my heart just started again,” I sighed, putting a hand over my heart.
He nodded, “Maybe we’d better go down in your brother’s room...”
I stared at him and kidding scolded, “Amiboshi!”
He turned red, “No! Not like that! I meant maybe I should so your parents don’t see me, and I thought...”
I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked, “You thought what?”
He turned redder and buried his face in his hands, “I just keep making this worse and worse...”
“Yup.”
He looked up, “I meant that we could be together... not in that way....just enjoy each other’s company...” he winced at all the sexual inuendos, “I mean...”
I smiled, taking his hand, “It’s okay, I know what you mean. I want us to have some time together too.”
He smiled, and we catiously crawled out from behind the counter, then headed down to Jiyu’s room.
Once there, I sat down on Jiyu’s bed and smiled at him, then looked sighly away, “I can’t believe we’re...boyfriend and girlfriend.”
He sat down next to me and slipped his arm around my waist, almost nervously, “Yeah. I...I’ve never really been interested in girls, never really had time for them. I was always just taking care of Suboshi. And no girls have ever really been interesting in me.”
I chuckled softly, laying my head against his chest, and smiling softly, “It’s their loss,” I bit my lip and smiled a little wider, “and my gain.”
He chuckled softly, and I went on, “It’s true. You’re the most wonderful guy I’ve ever met in my life. You’re amazing. Talented, smart, sweet, handsome, sensitive..everything a girl could ever want in a guy. I’m so lucky to have you.”
He gently stroked my arm and layed his head atop of mine, “Thank you, Nishiko. But I should be the one saying that to you. Ever since I got here, you’ve been here for me. You were concerned for me, even when I was acting like an idiot. I’ve never had anyone care about me like that before...except maybe Suboshi,” his expression clouded momentarilt, but then he smiled, “maybe that’s why I fell in love with you. You’re compassionate to everyone around you.”
I trembled a bit, feeling utterly touched by his words. No one had ever said something like this to me before. At that moment, it struck me how unbelievably lucky I was. I was sitting here with the guy I was completely and utterly in love with, his arm’s around me, hearing him tell me he loved me too. The happiness was so great I felt tears well up in my eyes. He looked down at me, alarmed, “Nishiko?”
I wiped a quick tear, “I’m fine, it’s just...I’ve never been happier in my life. You’re all I dreamed about for months, thinking there was no possible way you exsisted because you were in a TV show. It’s a miracle that I get to meet you, but it’s so amazing to me that you love me back. I’m actually waiting for someone to wake me up, and I’ll realize this was all a dream, a wonderful dream. I don’t understand why I’m so lucky. I’m so grateful, but I’m just waiting for something bad to happen, the way life screws up everything good,” I slipped my arms around him, closing my eyes and letting a few light tears roll over my cheeks, “I...I’m afraid I’ll lose you! I don’t want to let go of you!”
He held me tighter, his whole body warm against mine, “Then don’t,” he said ina soft, comforting voice. I looked up into his eyes, and he smiled warmly before kissing my mouth tenderly. His gentle hand ran through my hair, and he deepened the kiss, slipping his tounge into my mouth. I was a bit surprised, because I didn’t think Amiboshi knew how to do this! But I french kissed him back, bringing my arms up around his neck. Slowly, he pulled away from the kiss to let his lips wander down my jawline to my neck. I took in my breath, surprised again. Amiboshi was certainly more experience than I’d thought he was. But I suddenly noticed his body trembling a little, especially his hands. He was nervous. I smiled, thinking of how unbelievably cute this was. I gently brought his face back up to mine and kissed his lips softly, trying to calm him. He seemed to relax a little, and this time I made the first move to deepen the kiss.
We were just getting into the kiss when the phone rang. We both jumped a mile and stared at the phone, our eyes huge. I organized my thoughts and shook my head, glaring frustratedly at the phone on Jiyu’s table. As Amiboshi chuckled, I realized I had a death grip on his shirt. He smiled at me, “Scare you?”
I composed myself, letting go of his shirt and smoothing it out, “No,” I replied mildly before reaching over and grabbing the reciever. “Hello?” I asked annoyedly.
“Nishiko?” came a trembling voice I recognized as Akai’s, “can you come over?”
I sensed something was seriously wrong. Her voice shook like she was close to crying and was quietly urgant.
Without asking anything, I answered, “Sure thing. I’ll be right over.” I hung up the phone. I turned to Amiboshi, “we have to go back over to Akai’s,” I explained quickly, “something happened.” I got up, pulling him with me and climbing out the window, my teeth gritted, and thinking, I’ll kill Tasuki!

¹ All right, this deserves a footnote, although I’ve been using too many of them. <=.) You’ll notice in this fic Akai comes to the nick name “Ami-chan” for Amiboshi. Well, in Japan, the suffix “chan” is usually used on girls that are your friends and are younger than you. When used on a boy, it’s very degrading, and embarrassing. Inomi and I talked and she just can’t think of any other suffix to use (she reserves “kun” for Tasuki, although that would be correct, and not using a suffix at all usually means you’re sleeping with that person.) so she calls him Ami-chan, and he is younger than her. But we just laugh and can picture Amiboshi face falling and saying in a tired voice, “Do you have to call me ‘chan’?” It’s so kawaii!

Prolouge	Chapter One	Chapter Two
Chapter Three	Chapter Four	Chapter Five
Chapter Six	Chapter Seven	Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine	Chapter Ten	Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve