{Blah! Started some random AU thing that came to me halfway between Utah and Chicago, shall evolve into something longer, I hope. Not much more to say, aside from

I do not own any of

Gensoumaden Saiyuki, Gaiden, Reload, G Fantasy, Peirrot (sp?) oranything related,

The NYPD, New York itself or the surrounding states, Canada, the colors blue and red, this typeface (Times) or any of the English characters and words appearing in this writing.

I think I've covered everything.

I do own, however, the yellow plastic chair that appears later on.

Thanks et review kudasai,}

It's funny, really it is. How adrenaline and fear can take over, completely take over and people are under the spell of their own anger and their own fear.

Then there is one instinct; stay alive and in the wake of I must live honor dies and morality and kindness and humanity die until the fear is exorcised. But the influence of this adrenaline on the brain is so strong, so uncontrollable that it's like a drug, a depressant, it changes people.

Out of fear they say "Take her and spare me!"

And out of anger they draw the knife and say "You let her die. You killed her."

And justice is carried out on the high of the blood coursing through the veins, on the film of red in front of the eyes.

When anger leaves, though, when the adrenaline has run its course, it's a low; a chemical low, and there is guilt.

And out of guilt she says "I cannot."

And out of sorrow he says "Then neither can I."

And the knife is drawn, and again justice is exacted.

_=_-_=_-_

Sha Gojyo was not the perfect cop. He had an uncanny ability to break rules without so much as trying, an equally amazing talent for inviting anger among his peers, a mastery of every vice in the book, and an uncharacteristic idealism that surfaced at the worst of times.

But they kept him because, despite his shortcomings, he got things done. Which was, sadly enough, more than the rest of the force could claim, and an addition they sorely needed. It was a great way to secure a job, really. Because he'd already broken and publicly mocked every regulation, there was really no danger of being fired for something like, say, breaking a rule. His superiors knew his habits and they despised them and they turned a blind eye to all of it, because they couldn't afford to lose Gojyo.

So life was good. No, life was tolerable. Life sucked, really, but it could be worse, according to the voice sing-songing "take not for granted" in the back of his mind.

It was at certain times, like when he found that guy bleeding in the alley, that the voice sort of cranked the volume and screamed at him that his life was pretty damn sweet- he could be propped up against a dumpster and dying.

So he pushed his hair back, long hair, red hair, the ladies loved it, especially when it was down and sort of spilt across his shoulder and collarbone, but when it was this damn hot he wanted to just hack off the lot of it. So he scraped his hair behind his shoulders and flipped on his flashlight, skipping it across the dumpsters and the grates and resting it on the guy's body. He looked alive. His face wasn't dead white, the limbs looked loose, maybe he was even breathing.

Gojyo kept the flashlight out and he kept his other hand on his gun, and approached the form. Damn. This would need some help, a car at least, an ambulance, yeah, an ambulance, that would be best. He dialed the station and then he dialed the paramedics and then he decided to do a little on his own, because he felt a little bad and the smell of blood was so strong.

"Hey, you awake?" knelt down, moved the flashlight so it shone on the guy's face. Why was the darkness so much thicker in alleyways?

"C'mon, wake up. Breathe on, man, wake up." He muttered more to himself, really, to remind himself that he was with a human and not a corpse, or maybe to keep his mind of the god awful headache that was either a hangover or a nicotine fit.

"'S alright, I've got the meds coming, all you've gotta do is breathe," it was so goddamned dark, he couldn't see out of the flashlight beam. But he could see that the guy was pretty young, his age, really. Dark hair and dark eyelashes, light skin that he hoped wasn't from the blood loss, really nice looking, not like the filthy bearded regulars of this alley. Murder attempt, maybe? Dumped the body in the alley when they thought it was dead? Gojyo wanted a cigarette. Tobacco would be nice, it would blot out the scent of the blood, but then it was too hot for anything involving fire. When the hell were the meds?

He rocked back on the heels of his boots and sighed, thinking that he would really like to figure out what happened here. Or have sex. Damn.

Siren, siren coming this way. Five seconds or less and the lights blinded him. Red, blue and that yellow-white all whirling madly, the paramedics were here, thank god for that. "Hey, the ambulance's here, okay?"

No answer. Gojyo discovered his hair in his eyes again and pushed it back, then ran to the ambulance. Didn't want to leave the guy alone, like he'd die without Gojyo there doing absolutely nothing. Didn't want to leave him, even on the ambulance, when he sort of stood there, trying to stay out of the way. Rode the thing all the way to the hospital, crashing against a counter top full of medical tape and syringes each time the driver made one of those dramatic, action movie-esque, car-tipping, tires screaming turns.

He was sitting in the waiting room, hanging out and not really doing much of use when he remembered that he'd left his carsomewhere. Damn. Couldn't remember where, just that it was gone.

_=_-_=_-_

You did WHAT? You killed her! She's as good as dead! You just as well killed her!

Save your own daughter — I don't care! I don't- I DON'T CARE! You killed her!

I'll kill you, then, kill you, because it's only right, not giving you the satisfaction of living on her time, you're thieves, thieves and murderers, I'll kill you.

Don't look so surprised. Die, die already, how much blood can you lose before you just die already! Get on with it, I can't very well stab you again. Don't look surprised, for the love of God, you had it coming, you had it coming after you let them take her.

How much blood can you lose before you stop talking? Shut up! Shut up and die!

You're not breathing.

Dead.

How can you keep talking to me? Shut up, shut up, don't tell me you're sorry, shut up you're dead I killed you.

See this knife? God, God, I did it. That's blood. Dead.

I did it.

Oh God.

He closed his eyes, the hand with the knife smacking the floor numbly, handle still clasped firmly in his unfeeling fingers. Smelled the blood, saw the high wooden ceiling and it had a light spattering of blood on it.

Opened them, saw a white ceiling above him. Low ceiling, tiled, he was laying on his back, in a bed, a white bed, hospital bed.

"Cho Gonou."

There was someone sitting in the yellow plastic chair next to his bed. He had this long red hair, loose and smooth, dark red eyes. It was an unusual combination. He smiled, friendly, he looked friendly, even with the red hair and the red eyes and the fact that Gonou had no clue as to who he was.

"You need to get up, man. You gotta get outta here as soon as you wake up, and you're awake, finally. It's been a little over a week." He shrugged, the hair shifted, in apology for the two weeks thing. Gonou must have looked a little more surprised at that than he'd intended. The man shifted a cap from hand to hand, and Gonou noticed the jacket on the back of the chair. NYPD, they both had it embroidered on the dark fabric. NYPD. Police. You gotta get outta here as soon as you wake up. Police. Taking him away. He'd been caught, was being taken away for murder. Murder.

And he didn't care a bit.

"I've got your shoes and jacket. Got it cleaned, there were some pretty nasty bloodstains on it"

Gonou blinked. "That's destruction of key evidence, getting the bloodstains out, they could run an electrophoresis test"

A sigh. He twisted the cap in his hands, balling up the fabric part of it. Looked up. "They found the knife, man. Found your fingerprints on it. Found a few witnesses, found out about your girlfriend. They got the motive, the evidence, they even have the murder weapon, damnit. It won't make a goddamn bit of difference if I wash all your clothes, won't even matter if I murder the witnesses, anything, they've got a solid case. You stay here one second longer and I can guarantee you'll meet up with a death penalty real soon."

Of course. Justice again, another try at being fair. Killing him. Kanan, Gonou, both gone.

The man with the red hair continued, taking his jacket off the back of the chair. "So that's why we're leaving before those seconds are up."

"You're going to"

"Help you out? Yeah. Harbour a criminal? Yeah. Break the law? Always. Abuse my — NYPD, if you haven't noticed- privileges? Hell, yeah. Let's go, Gonou. I'm Sha Gojyo, by the way."

Energy. Gojyo had that energy got him out of the bed — why was his body so numb?- he took the shoes and clothes from him, then folded the sheets with a return of his patently compulsive cleanliness.

"How did you know my name?"

Gojyo cocked his head and grinned again, as if they were fellow conspirators great friends or maybe like they knew each other, at very least. Pulled a wallet from his coat pocket, the driver's license flashing "Cho Gonou", the picture his own, a neat dark circle of blood blotting out the rest.

"My wallet?"

"Advice, man; never leave your wallet at the scene of the crime. But it's some evidence they'll never find, if you don't tell them."

[maaaa. I do suppose that sucked, which is really a sad thought, but I do promise you that if you have the perseverance and irreverence toward literature to continue reading the following chapters, you will be rewarded when the Kingdom comes. Hm. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Disrelated opinions? Insights as to Bush's personal life? Please review for all.

Next chapter:

There are CONFLICTS.

There is probably YAOI, if behind tastefully closed doors.

There is a brief mention of brand-named COFFEE.

There is some long-winded INTROSPECTION

There is some glossing over of under-researched LEGAL PROCESSES

There are underlying POLITICAL OPINIONS (staunch republicans are cautioned)

There is a brief cameo by KANZEON

And another by GOKU

Perhaps there is even mention of SANZO

Or even DOKU

KOUGAIJI, maybe

Not YAONE or LILIN, though.

But if you have any suggestions, they will be taken into account and plot.

Thank you all,

-Chom.