Borderline

The battered and broken faces of the buildings healed, and the screams of phoenix and dragon in the air faded, along with the ghosts of the Suzaku Seishi, and left Miaka, Tamahome, Tasuki, and Chichiri standing in the street with the last words of Taitsu-kun ringing in their ears.

"You have one day before you have to go back, boys. Make it count."

They looked at each other helplessly.

Her eyes shining at being able to stay with her prince for one more day, Miaka threw herself into Tamahome's arms. "Tamahome!" she cried.

The blue-haired boy stroked her hair, gently. "Miaka."

Tasuki turned his back resolutely on the pair and flashed his fangs at Chichiri. "Well, she said to make it count. Let's find a bar, Chichiri!"

"Anou..." The monk looked around uncertainly.

"What?" Tasuki demanded. "You promised me we'd have a drink!"

Before Chichiri could answer that, running footsteps made them turn.

"Miaka! Tamahome!" Keisuke yelled as he ran. Tetsuya puffed along behind him, carrying an unconscious and only partially-clad Yui on his back.

"Oniichan!" Miaka hailed him, pulling partially out of Tamahome's grasp. "I didn't get absorbed by Suzaku, oniichan!"

"I noticed," Keisuke said gleefully as he reached them. "I'm glad you're all right."

He slung his arm companionably around Tamahome's neck and yanked him around - nearly choking him - to face the other Seishi.

"We've got to celebrate! I know, let's go to a *Karaoke bar*!"

Miaka groaned, but the Seishi were curious.

"What's karaoke no da?"

"Is there alcohol there?"

"Can Miaka come?"

Keisuke grinned. "You'll love it! Come on!"

"Keisuke..." came Tetsuya's voice. "What about Yui?" He indicated the sleeping girl on his back with a toss of his head.

Miaka's brother shrugged. "Well, the Seishi can't go to a bar dressed like *this*, so we'll just let her sleep it off in Miaka's room when we go there to get changed."

Tetsuya shook his head. "All right, whatever."

Keisuke headed off excitedly in the direction of his house, and the others shrugged and followed him. All but Miaka.

"But, but, oniichan!" she called, but was cheerfully ignored. Tamahome offered his arm and she took it after a moment. "But karaoke is so.... tacky," she muttered.

Keisuke emerged from his room, a wide, scary grin on his face. In his hands, he clutched a bottle of mousse and a comb. Miaka and Tetsuya looked up wearily from their place on the couch.

"I've done it.... again!" Keisuke announced.

Miaka bounced to her feet, all ready to see her beloved dressed up again. Tetsuya groaned goodnaturedly and rose to his feet a moment later. "Let's see!" cried the girl, clapping her hands.

Keisuke opened the door with a flourish and the Seishi tentatively emerged.

Tamahome was dressed in a blue silk shirt, tight jeans, and a long dark blue trench coat. The top two buttons of the shirt were undone and he was wearing a slender chain with a single shark's tooth that lay perfectly between the planes of his flat chest. The tooth swayed slightly with every motion, drawing attention to the revealed flesh. He smiled at Miaka and ducked his head, hiding behind his ragged blue bangs, as her jaw dropped in shock.

Chichiri wasn't wearing his mask. He was dressed simply in a black tank top and blue jeans. Over the tank top he wore a thick leather jacket with an intricate silver design that caught the light subtly, but not flashily. It would draw someone's eye, but the monk himself would keep the attention. A single long silver earring, shaped like a teardrop, hung from his ear, almost brushing his shoulder. He blushed at Tetsuya and Miaka's open-mouthed regard, and moved aside to allow Tasuki to emerge from the room.

Unlike the other two, Tasuki strutted from the room confidently, belying the blush on his face. He was dressed in a black mesh shirt, too short for him and showing a perfectly flat stomach, black leather pants, and a white silk shirt with no buttons on it. Like Chichiri's, his prayer beads were absent, but he still wore his earrings, and a lopsided, fanged grin.

"Yosha! Let's go!" he said.

"O-o-o-oniichan!!!!" Miaka cried. "They can't go out looking like that!"

"I dunno..." Tetsuya said thoughtfully. "They sure look sexy enough." He looked around at the roomful of sweatdropping people and cleared his throat. "I'll just go look in on Yui. In fact, go without me, I want to make sure she's all right."

Keisuke winked at him. "Sure you do, Tetsuya. You and Yui, uh, have fun." He grinned.

Tetsuya snorted derisively. "Hentai." Then he smiled briefly, and ducked into Miaka's room.

"Anou... are you sure about this no da?" Chichiri asked generally, not really directing the question to anyone in particular. For some reason, he seemed to be looking at Tasuki.

"Hell yeah!" Tasuki replied. "Don't worry, Chichiri, once you're drunk, you won't be embarrassed anymore," he continued.

"If you say so no da..."

"All right, let's go," Keisuke broke in, grabbing the nearest arm - which happened to be Miaka's - and dragging them out of the house. Miaka struggled out of her brother's grasp and latched onto Tamahome by the time they reached the sidewalk, and they all trooped after her brother into the darkening Tokyo night.

Two hours later, Tasuki was feeling pleasantly buzzed. Well... more than that, actually. At some point, Miaka and Tamahome had disappeared, which Tasuki figured was good riddance. They had refused to drink - well, Miaka had refused to drink, and Tamahome had refrained out of deference to her - and had generally been wet blankets all evening.

Now, he was knocking back another swig of sake, while Chichiri dozed against his shoulder. A group of giggling senior highschool girls shuffled onto the stage and began singing a fuzzy love song to their boyfriends in the front row. They were cute, and the skirts gave Tasuki an appreciated view, but they were horribly off-key. The red-haired bandit turned to Keisuke.

"Ne, Keisuke, can anyone go up there and do that?"

Keisuke grinned, more than a little drunk himself. "Sure, you want to try?"

"Yeah!" Tasuki said, showing his fangs. "But I don't know the music."

"That's ok, there's a screen that tells you the words."

"Can ya pick me something good?"

"Sure."

Tasuki shook Chichiri awake and pointed at the stage where the girls were winding down their, uh, performance. "I'm gonna sing somethin', Chichiri. You gotta listen, okay?"

"Hmmmm, all right no da," Chichiri said, coming awake. "Can you sing, Tasuki-kun no da?"

"You'd better hope so!" Tasuki replied, flashing a grin. Assured that Chichiri would be watching, he followed Keisuke and took command of the stage. He grabbed the mike, having watched people do the same thing all evening, and realized that somehow the black, bulbous object made their voices louder if they spoke into it. Then he leaned down to Keisuke, who was fiddling with the machine. "Pick me somethin' sexy, okay?"

Keisuke gave him a thumbs' up. "Got it." He fiddled some more, then the speakers began blasting a driving rhythm in drums and guitar. The blonde pointed to a screen where Tasuki could see images appropriate to the music starting to appear, shifting in time to the music. "Just look here, the words will come up and tell you the rhythm you should use. It's easy."

"No problem." Tasuki jabbed a thumb in the direction of their table. "Now get outta here."

As Keisuke made his way back to the table, Tasuki started getting into the music, nodding his head in time to the rhythm, and starting to sway his hips. When the words started coming up on the screen, he knew just how to say them.

Yokonarabi de chuuryuu ga

Nozomashii

Moral mo nani mo nai

Dangou shakai

Tachiagare me o samase

Sono te de

Ori ni tsunagareta tamashii

Kouya ni hanate

Dare no tame ni gisei ni naru no ka

Ore wa ore de jiyuu ni oyogu ze

Joudan ja nai

You must go across borderline

Where is your promised land

I must fly across borderline

By the first chorus, which was in English, Tasuki was fully into the music. His eyes were half-closed, his hips swaying in time to the music. Urged on by the yells and whistles from his audience, he clutched the mike and pressed his body against the pole, sliding up and down it, still swaying and singing. It felt like this song had been made just for him.

Mita me dake no talent ga

Kasegi dasu

Shichouritsu no Paradise

Urenai Serious

Tsukisusume tsuburetemo

Hirumu na

Yowai yatsu de mo dekiru ze

Ore mo onaji sa

Heta na uta ni damasareyashinai

Teki wa itsumo jibun ni nita Shadow

Takusan da ze

You must go across borderline

'cause get your golden ring

I must fly across borderline

He continued to make love to the mikestand, then abruptly broke from it, pulling the microphone off the stand and striding around the stage. His hand ran down his body, then back up, lifting the mesh shirt to reveal more perfect flesh. His leather-clad hips never stopped their swaying and twisting in time to the music.

The song transitioned and he opened his eyes fully, flashing his fangs and scanning the audience. The girls in the front had forgotten their boyfriends completely and were screaming and waving to him. The rest of the bar seemed riveted on him and he drank in their attention like sake. The person his eyes rested on, however, seemed in shock. Chichiri watched him with a fixed expression, his jaw practically on the floor, while Keisuke, beside him, snapped his fingers with the music. Tasuki felt the music crescendo and he threw himself into it again.

You must go across borderline

Where is your promised land

I must fly across borderline

You must go across borderline

I must fly across borderline

Finally the song ground to a halt and he stopped dancing, stopping to wipe the sweat from his face as he was enveloped in applause. He felt like he was grinning like an idiot and didn't care. He replaced the microphone on the stand and headed for the table, waving away the adoring girls, smiling smugly at their irate boyfriends.

He reached the table and dropped onto the bench again. Chichiri still looked like he was in shock, but Keisuke was frankly admiring.

"Sugoi! Tasuki! That was awesome!!" he fawned.

"Naah, it was nothin'," Tasuki waved off the praise with a flick of a bangled wrist. He turned to Chichiri. "So? Didja like it?"

"It was... very interesting no da," Chichiri replied uncertainly.

Tasuki was disappointed, and drunk enough to do something about it. "Whadaya mean 'interesting no da'? I sang that for you, you baka!" He turned away and irritatedly and held out his sake cup for Keisuke to refill.

"Really? You sang that for me no da?"

Tasuki shrugged, a slight blush colouring his cheeks as he turned back towards the hesitant Chichiri. "Yeah, so what?"

Suddenly the red-haired bandit found himself enveloped in leather as Chichiri threw his arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, if clumsily, on the lips. Tasuki responded eagerly, putting his arms around Chichiri and exploring his mouth. When they parted, both boys were panting slightly and flushed.

"Anou, if you wanted to stay with me when we get back to Konan no da..."

"If you wanted to stay with me," Tasuki countered, grinning. Chichiri blushed and nodded before letting go. Tasuki glanced at Keisuke, who was staring at them with eyes as big as saucers.

The blonde raised his sake cup in mock salute, shaking his head ruefully. "Kanpai," he said.

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