Disclaimer: Nuriko lives in my closet. Don’t even start with the "come out of the closet" jokes. He thinks they’re getting old.

Warnings: Tasuki language, pointless babble, stalkers, sushi, bad restaurant etiquette, food art.

Notes: Hi!!! Well, it’s the second day of school, and I have done practically no homework. BUT…I have five pages done on my thesis!!! Rejoice!! Sorry it’s been taking me longer to get chapters out, but that’s school for ya. **sigh** Wouldn’t it be great if we all got paid for doing this?? Hehehe. ^_^

Dedications: This one’s for Lancynth, Stephan, and Tianna. And to Tianna’s future with either Obi-wan Kenobi or Archie Kennedy. Now, there’s a scary idea for a crossover fic.

Random inside joke of the day: Legolas: "OH NO!! The set collapsed!!!"

"GACK!!!" said Taka, seemingly horrified.

The rest of us—including Gen-chan, who had since slid down the wall and had rejoined the group only a little the worse for wear—jumped back at his outburst.

Taka seemed desperate. "What do you mean, about Doukun??!! You mean how much he studies? Yeeeeahhhh, how can we get him out of the house more???"

Saihitei closed his eyes. "Tamahome. I told Mitsukake this evening about Suzaku no Miko. There’s no need to cover up." Myojuan nodded slowly in affirmation.

They both received a blank stare. There was a long, uncomfortable period of silence that made me want to either crack a Miaka-like, tension-breaking joke…or hide behind Saihitei so that Taka couldn’t glare at me as well.

"You…told him?" Taka said finally, his tone dangerous.

"Yes," said Saihitei briefly.

"Damn it! We agreed to tell Tasuki, and that’s all!" our friend exclaimed angrily. "You didn’t even bother to check with me??? Even if it were only to warn me??"

"I asked him to tell me," Myojuan said firmly.

"He healed a man," Saihitei added. "He used his powers. How could I not explain, after that?"

"Fuck, man," said Gen-chan. "Chill. Not like you’re the fuckin King of the Reincarnated Seishi."

"I never claimed I was," Taka snapped. "It was an agreement we had."

"Well, nothing bad happened…" I piped up optimistically, though the familiar tugs of panic were once again tugging at my chest. "Nothing bad happened, and he’s sorry, aren’t you, Saihitei? But he did just ask you about Doukun, right? So it’s not like he’s going off and telling everyone he knows, right?"

Taka looked warily up at Saihitei and sighed. "I suppose."

"I am sorry," my boyfriend confirmed my words. "But I really didn’t have a choice."

A moment more, and then Taka nodded. "I understand. I’m sorry, I overreacted. It’s just…we spent so long trying to decide what would be best for everyone, and now it seems like that hardly matters at all."

"Blame destiny, if you like," said Saihitei.

"Yes," I agreed. "Is there a better scapegoat, after all?"

"Fuckin destiny," muttered Gen-chan.

Since it was almost five thirty and none of us had eaten anything all day, we decided that the best place to have our little seishi meeting about Doukun would be a restaurant. After much cajoling, I finally got them to agree to go out for sushi. I love sushi, and lots of people claim not to like it without even having tried it. Luckily, Gen-chan likes it, too, otherwise there’s no way he would’ve let us go. So, we all piled into Taka’s car—Taka and Myojuan in the front, and me squished between the other two in the back because I had the shortest legs—and headed off to Sakura, which was about five or ten minutes away.

"Maybe we can get the sampler boat!" I exclaimed once we had settled in our booth. This particular restaurant had platters shaped like boats that the sushi came out on. I’d never gotten it before.

"Yeah! Dude!" said Gen-chan. "The fuckin boat, all the way!!"

"It says here that the sampler boat is twenty dollars a person," Taka frowned. "There’s no way I’m paying that much for raw fish and rice."

"And seaweed," I added.

"Oh. Forgive me. The million-dollar seaweed."

"I want the fuckin boat," Gen-chan insisted.

"It’s twenty…DOLLARS," Taka repeated. "A PERSON."

"Cheap-ass ho."

"Vampire."

"Oh, for heaven’s sake," I sighed.

I pitied our poor waitress, who had to deal with Taka and Genrou changing each other’s orders from Boat to Non-Boat about seven times before Saihitei interrupted them both by asking politely if she could possibly bring out their regular orders on a boat-shaped platter. A tiny bit flustered, she agreed with a nervous smile, and dashed away as quickly as possible.

What a great compromise, I sighed dreamily to myself. Gee. He must’ve made such a wonderful emperor.

"So…matter of business," said Taka as we waited for our food. "Doukun."

"Yes, Mr. Chairman," I said, mock-serious.

He ignored me. "And Houjun. What to do about them. Well. The way I see it, we have three people who’ve been told…two took it pretty well, and one…well…went a little berserk."

"Fuckin rub it in, why dontcha," Gen-chan grumbled.

"Just focus on Doukun," I said quickly, because if they kept talking about Houjun, I just knew I was gonna let something slip. "Houjun’s halfway to Indiana by now, and Miaka’s certainly not gonna tell him by herself." What about the policeman dude? Should I tell them about the policeman dude?

No. What did you just SAY?? DOUKUN. We are focusing…on…DOUKUN.

"Fair enough," Taka nodded.

"I believe Chiriko would take it well, if we were to tell him," said Saihitei. "He’s intelligent, and he has neither a destructive nature nor a terrible temper, like some of us…"

"Will ya STOP???!!!!" Gen-chan exclaimed. "I’m fuckin SORRY, already!!!"

"But I’m afraid the problem would lie in the very fact that he is so smart," Taka argued. "He’s logical. The very bases of logic would vehemently deny the fact that something like this is even possible."

"Deep, Tama-chan," I said.

"How is that going to feel, though?" Saihitei pressed. "To have five of us know, and to leave the others in the dark?"

Like I’m missing some part of myself…Like I’m…like I’m…

"Incomplete," I murmured.

Saihitei looked at me and nodded. "Incomplete. I know it’s a tough decision to make, but…"

"Finding this out has been one of the greatest things that’s ever happened to me," I said truthfully. "I mean…when you’re growing up, you always want to be like the people in the cartoons… you want to pretend you’re special, and that you’re capable of great things…maybe you’re going to save the world some day, or maybe you already did in another life. But most people never get to know these things. They think they’re silly for thinking about them, ordinary people like them, nothing special whatsoever. But now…" I shrugged. "I kinda feel like my life means something. I think, in the long run, it’ll make me stronger."

Beside me, Gen-chan was bobbing his head up and down in agreement. "Fuck. I know I spazzed out and everything—how could I forget, with you fuckin morons bringin it up twenty-four-seven—but Ryuu-chan’s right. I was a fuckin nothin. Never really thought I’d amount to much. But, shit…I was a fuckin seishi!!" His eyes glittered, but whether from melancholy or determination, I couldn’t quite tell. "I was important. I feel like I can do fuckin anything…anything!! And…fuck. I think we’re selfish bastards if we keep the other guys from feelin that, too."

The traumatized waitress came in then with our food, arranged very nicely in a little wooden boat.

"All RIGHT!!!" Genrou celebrated, and clicked his chopsticks together eagerly. "Boat, boat, boat!!!"

Taka picked up an avocado roll and regarded it intently for a moment.

"It grow eyes, or somethin?" I inquired around a mouthful of tekka maki.

He raised an eyebrow at me, then smiled and shook his head. "I suppose the fair thing to do would be to put it to a vote."

Saihitei agreed, as did the rest of us.

"All right," said Saihitei. "Who thinks we ought to tell…Doukun, at least? And perhaps the others, but we can discuss that at a later date."

Yet more silence.

But it was Myojuan who finally got the guts to give his opinion. "I think we should tell him," he rumbled softly.

"As do I," said Saihitei.

"Me, too," I added quietly, just as Genrou said, "Fuck, yeah."

Taka exhaled very slowly, looking around at all of us. Then, he closed his eyes and nodded. "All right. That’s fair."

With a relieved grin, I dug into the sushi with relish. (No, not with relish… ewww. What I mean is…with gusto.) "Phew!! I’m glad we talked about that, you guys. I’m glad everybody’s okay with it, and…man, I love sushi."

"You wouldn’t, by any chance, have socks with sushi on them?" Myojuan asked, straight-faced. Saihitei chuckled.

"No," I said.

Before I even noticed he’d moved, Gen-chan had reached under the table, grabbed my foot, and stuffed a California roll into one of Saihitei’s boring, white-with-blue-stripe-on-top socks.

"What the hell????!!!" I demanded, shoving myself away from him.

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" he barked, and pointed at my foot.

The others were snickering, even Myojuan.

"You do now," said Taka.

Digging the thing out of my sock, I deposited it airily upon Gen-chan’s plate.

"EWWWWWW!!!!" he exclaimed, recoiling. "Don’t fuckin put that there!!! That touched your fuckin foot!!!!"

"Now…who should’ve thought of that before he made it touch my foot, ehhhhh?" I said pleasantly.

"Tamaaaaaaa!!! Would you tell him to get it the hell off my plate???!!!" he whined, appealing to Taka with pleading eyes.

"You’re such a baby!!!" I clicked.

"Yeah, well, you’re gay!!!"

"Children, children," said Taka, holding his hands out over the table in a pacifying gesture. "Don’t make me take away your TV privileges…and Genrou, such language is not appropriate for a restaurant."

I made a face at Gen-chan and stuck out my tongue.

"Ryuueeeeeeennnnn…." Taka said warningly.

Grinning, I put my hands meekly in my lap. "Sorry, Dad."

"While I hate to interrupt this delightfully interesting banter," Saihitei said good-humoredly, "I think we should follow up our decision to tell Doukun with deciding who should tell him."

"Let me," said Myojuan calmly.

We all looked at him, surprised he’d been so quick to volunteer. "Are you sure? You don’t even remember a lot of…" Taka began.

"I remember enough," Myojuan said. "And I know him the best out of all of us. I know he trusts me. I’ll do it."

"Dude! I forgot to tell ya!" Gen-chan announced suddenly. "Doukun and I saw your fuckin pansy stalker guy at lunch yesterday."

I winced. "Chuin?"

"No, your fuckin other pansy stalker guy. So we were at McDonalds, right…and allva sudden I see the fuckin asshole sittin off in the corner by himself. I wanted to go up to him and fuckin kick his ass to Nepal, but Doukun wouldn’t fuckin let me…"

"Yeah, Genrou told me what happened on Monday night," Taka said. "I’d keep an eye out for that guy. I really would."

"You know, the reason I didn’t tell you all myself was because I didn’t want you guys to be paranoid and make a big deal out of it." I crossed my arms and frowned at Gen-chan.

"Just be careful," Saihitei contributed. "I’d hate to…"

"Ex-CUSE me??? Can I finish the fuckin story here???!!" Genrou interrupted rudely.

"Sorry," said Taka. "Go ahead."

"I appreciate it. So we see this guy sittin alone, and Doukun won’t fuckin let me pound him into the fuckin ground…"

"You said that already."

He glared at me. "I was summing up. Dammit. Just listen. So he keeps fuckin lookin over at us, right? Cuz, you know, he knows we hang out with ya. About fifty fuckin times he keeps fuckin lookin over to see if you’re there. Fuckin moron."

I sighed.

"It was goddamn annoying. So finally, I caught him in the act, and I yell, ‘He’s not fuckin here!!!!!!’ Scared the shit outa him. And he left." He leaned back proudly.

"Yup. Now I should have no problem at all trying to get things between him and me to be normal," I said wryly, trying not to grit my teeth.

He shrugged. "Fuck, who wants normal?? With that guy?? Good luck."

"I had a better chance before you decided to scream at him."

"Hey!! I thought I was fuckin doin you a favor!!!!"

"The sushi’s getting cold," said Saihitei.

Trying to remain calm, I snatched up another tuna roll.

"Ah, great, now he’s gonna be all fuckin pissy," Gen-chan groaned.

"I’m not pissy!!" I exclaimed. "I’m eating!"

"You can’t be both at the same time?"

"Multitasking isn’t my thing."

We fell silent and dug into our food as our audience—Saihitei, Taka, Myojuan, and the trembling waitress who was gazing at us from a crack in the kitchen door—looked from one of us to the other, trying to decide who was gonna make the next move. When neither one of us said anything, Taka shook his head and raised his eyebrows.

"You two," he said, "are not normal."

"You had doubts?" Myojuan said blandly.

"You willingly ran off to be the prisoner of the enemy, and we’re not normal?" I said.

"DA DA DA DAAAAAAA!!!! MEMORY!!!" Gen-chan crowed, and we high-fived.

"WOOHOO!!" I added.

Taka and Saihitei burst into laughter. I looked at Gen-chan and grinned.

"Sorry bout the pansy ass stalker boy thing," he apologized. "But after what happened…"

"Helloooo, space cadet?" said Taka.

I looked up quickly and smiled. "Sorry." Just had an Epiphanous Moment, that’s all. "Don’t worry about it, Gen-chan. I kinda wish I coulda seen the look on Chuin’s face, come to think of it."

He snorted.

When we’d finished eating, I grabbed my chopsticks and started using them to sculpt my pile of wasabi. Hmm, let’s see…eyes…mouth…and ginger for hair!! WONderful! But imagine my surprise when, as soon as I was done, I found that everyone was staring at me.

"What?"

"What the fuck is that?" Gen-chan asked in a monotone, staring at my creation.

I looked at it.

It stared back at me with it’s little hollow eyes.

"It’s a wasabi goblin," I said. "I always make wasabi goblins when I have Japanese food."

Saihitei reached across the table and patted my forearm, pursing his lips and averting his eyes like he’d go into hysterics if he looked at me.

"What???" I repeated.

"Man…" Gen-chan gave me the "Fuck-Dude-You’re-On-Drugs-Or-Something" look. "Taka’s right. You’re not fuckin normal."

"How long have we known each other?" I demanded. "And you’ve never seen me make a wasabi goblin before?!"

"Ano…" came a small, scared voice. It was the waitress. I was immediately very ashamed of my wasabi goblin, since I was afraid she would think I was making fun of the culture, or something. "May I take your plates?"

Blushing, I handed her my plate and thanked her. She collected the other plates and high-tailed it out of there.

Taka groaned. "We can never set foot in this restaurant again."

Saihitei did look at me then, smiling charmingly—he really DOES look like a movie star, although you probably shouldn’t say so, since it’ll only go to his head—and winked. I gave him a sheepish grin.

After dinner, we drove back and I asked them to drop me at the door of my dorm, because I hadn’t done any homework all weekend and desperately needed to catch up. As I exited the car—Saihitei had to get out so I didn’t have to crawl over him—he kissed me on the cheek and said, "I’ll see you sometime this week, and I’ll give you back your clothes."

Even though he’d cracked a joke about the clothes thing earlier, Gen-chan nearly choked on his tongue.

TBC…

Notes: No cliffhanger!! Ahhhhhh!!! ^_^ Thanks for reading, guys. ^_^