Chapter 2: Tsk! Tsk!


Disclaimer: All characters and anything related to Fushigi Yuugi belongs to Watase Yuu. I am not making any money from this so if anybody should decide to sue me for anything in my pages I'm just a poor student and you may just be wasting your money. And so forth and all that good stuff.


Tasuki was still indignant about how the fight ended last night. If I find that guy I ll burn him into a crispy critter. He laughed as he the images of the Ayanosuke s broken and burnt remains appeared in his mind.

Miaka had happily recounted the whole encounter to the other seishi over the breakfast table.

"You shouldn t let your temper get the better of you, na no da, Tasuki."

"Hai, Tasuki-san. You loose your focus when you get angry."

"You sure didn't get his name?" Nuriko asked.

"I couldn t hear anything over the crowd," answered Miaka as she gulped down her food. Tasuki squirmed as he sweated his way through Miaka s recapitulated and the others questions.

"It s ok, Tasuki." Mitsukake tried to console Tasuki as he saw him turn redder with each remark.

"You should have been more diplomatic and talked to the man Tasuki." Hotohori calmly suggested.

"Tasuki was just mad cause the guy beat him up good. Serves him right," Tamahome chimed.

They blamed him. Like it was his fault. He didn t start it. He was just trying to protect Miaka. Tasuki stopped in front of the door to Hotohori s study. The emperor had called them in to talk about their trip to Hokkan. He would rather have been elsewhere to nurse his wounded ego. But he didn t want the others to see just how disturbed he was about the lost. Tasuki silently opened the door and crept in. Hotohori was seated behind the table. Mitsukake, Chichiri, Chiriko, Hotohori s advisors and three others, who s back Tasuki didn t recognize, were there.

"Ah, Tasuki." Hotohori looked up from the papers he was studying and motioned him forward.

"Gomen, Your Majesty." Tasuki apologized for his tardiness.

"It s okay we were just discussing with Ayanosuke-san about his price for the commission of one of his ships." Hotohori gestured to the other three as they turned to look at the tardy seishi.

Tasuki s head snapped up as he heard the familiar name mentioned. The same pretty face smiled at him as Ayanosuke greeted Tasuki. Tasuki s vision blurred. He growled at the remembrance of his embarassing defeat in front of Miaka. He lunged forward and aimed a blow into the man's face.

BAM! Taken aback Ayanosuke could not react fast enough as Tauki s fist connected with his jaw.

"Ayanosuke-sama," cried out his two attendants as he fell back and his vision started to darken.

"Tasuki!!" Hotohori's deep commanding voice could not cut through Tasuki s haze of temper.

"Tasuki!" Mistukake and Chichiri held Tasuki back as he tried to land another punch at the dazed man.

"Tasuki-san, please calm down," pleaded Chiriko, as he tried to push him back. Tasuki looked down at the child s face wearing a worried expression and calmed down. He looked at Ayanosuke, who was holding his head in his hands and tryint to get his bearing straight.

"This is an outrage," cried the man on Ayanosuke s left.

"Your Majesty, we came here to do business. This man should be put in prison." The man cradling Ayanosuke s right side said.

"No!" Coughed the figure in front of them. Ayanosuke grabbed the end of Hotohori's big table and dragged himself in front of Tasuki, who had calmed down a bit a little pleased with his punch.

Ayanosuke leaned on the table. "Ayanosuke-sama," the bearded old man who was standing to Ayanosuke s left went out to support his unsteady master. Ayanosuke pushed him away and bowed down before Tasuki. "Tasuki-san." Ayanosuke s voice was less harsher than yesterday and was faltering. "I am terribly sorry about yesterday. My temper gets the better of me at times and you just caught me in one of my best moods." Ayanosuke tried his best to sound sincere and smiled at Tasukit trying to ease his pride.

Tasuki looked down at Ayanosuke s bruised face. He looked at his golden brown eyes covered by his unruly dark brown bangs. "Shit," Tasuki mentally cursed himself, "he looks like a girl." Tasuki broke down and suddenly felt bad about hitting Ayanosuke.

"Uhm..." Tasuki din t know what to say. Ayanosuke just smiled at him, which reminded him of one of Nuriko s smiles. "Perhaps later we can have a friendly--less violent spar later," he playfully goaded.

Tasuki smiled as he nodded his assent happy that he still may get a chance to win his pride back.

"But for now." Ayanosuke continued all business now, as he turned around to face Hotohori. "I would like a moment to get myself together and talk about our deal with my people. If you don t mind, Your Majesty?"

"Of course." Hotohori complied. "I will send Mitstukake to your room to attend to your--"

"No!" Ayanosuke imposingly cut Hotohori off. He blushed a little and softened his voice. "No, your majesty. Thank you. My jaw will be fine it is my pride that will need some mending later." Ayanosuke winked at Tasuki, who blushed all of a sudden.

"If you will excuse me. Your Majesty." Ayanosuke left with his two attendants supporting him out.

"Heh." Tasuki smirked as he watched the retreating figures.

"Hmmm." Hotohori audibly mused as he thought of ways to reprimand the misfit.

Tasuki turned and looked at his other companions and put his hand over the back of his head and laughed.

"Now, we ll never get that commission, no da." Chichiri dismayed which put Tasuki's mischievous spirit down as he tried to figure out what sort of business he just foiled.

"Ayanosuke-san owns the best merchant ships in all the four countries." The child genius began to explain to Tasuki. "They're sturdy, fast and well defended. We were going to commission one of his ships and not use those in the Emperor s navy because those will be more suceptible to the Kotou spies and may get ambushed on our way to Hokkan."

Tasuki inwardly groaned. That made sense. He grinned showing his teeth and spent the whole hour apologizing to Hotohori and telling him that he ll make it up to them and Ayanosuke.


Author's Notes: Okay..whoa...now I'm sleepy. I'll finish typing in the other ones this weekend since I won't have enough time during this week. I hope you guys like this. To all those Tasuki lovers in the audience please don't flame me for beating Tasuki up but he did get a good punch at my character so that shoul make you guys happy for now. Anybody figure out what's going to happened in the next chapter. Oi! Oi!! what are you guy doing down there in the gutter again. You know I really didn't mean to but as I was rereading my fic it does have a lot of yaoi implications in it...if you look hard enough and your imagination takes the better of you.

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