Technically my second Saiyuki fanfic, but hey... TenpouXKonzen, anime, takes place after the little bit we get in the TV show near the end of the first Saiyuki. Please R&R! - YN
"I have had it up to here with you!" a voice thundered in the adjoining hallway. Tenpou winced and put down his brush, shaking his head over the smear of ink that ruined the page before him. A second voice followed the first, all innocence.
"But I didn't do anything! They started it."
"I don't care who started it! I've finished it!" The Field Marshal of the Western Armies of Heaven sighed again and pushed away from his desk, automatically groping for a cigarette. Konzen Douji and Son Goku had come to visit him. A mane of messy brown hair framing bright golden eyes, a gold coronet and a ready grin poked around his door frame.
"Hey, Ten-chan, got anything to eat?"
Tenpou laughed. "I'm sure I can find you something."
It took a little under an hour for Goku to eat, tear around madly, then fall asleep. Tenpou carried him to his own bed, covering the slumbering boy with a blanket before tiptoeing from the room.
"Ugh." Konzen had flopped down into the pile of cushions Tenpou liked to keep handy in case he forget where his chair was. Konzen was running his long fingers through his spill of sunlight hair and had a grumpy expression on his face. "How do you manage it? How do you manage him?" Tenpou laughed softly and joined his oldest friend on the cushions, absent-mindedly stacking up some books that were within reach.
"How is he holding up? Kenren told me what happened at Prince Nataku's welcoming celebration, that Nataku ignored Goku when he called out to him."
"Hmph. Doesn't seem like anything worries the monkey for too long." Tenpou lit another cigarette and offered the pack to Konzen, who snorted and waved them away with a slender hand.
"I don't think that's accurate, my friend." Tenpou took a deep drag on his smoke, stringing his thoughts together as he spoke. "He may be a heretical being, and have been born of the earth, but his attitude and thoughts are still those of a child." Tapping ash from the end of the cigarette, he added, "And children don't tend to brush things off like adults do." A smile curved his mouth. "Rather, that is how things are for the beings of the Lower World, or so I have been told. We gods don't have to be adults at all, do we?" A matching smile crooked Konzen's lips, as his eyelids drooped to cover his amethyst stare.
"No, we in the Heavens can be as stupid and childish as we want."
"Careful, my dear Konzen, those words could get you into trouble," Tenpou admonished. Konzen had a habit of speaking his mind to anyone who would listen, and it was a habit that would definitely get the nephew of the Merciful Goddess into a great deal of trouble one day, pretty face or not. The Field Marshal busied himself with making a fresh pot of tea from the supplies he had on hand. The servants in this wing of the Heavenly Palace knew his habits by now, and always left him enough tea and cakes to see him through his lengthy reading vigils. He turned back to the cushions, cups in hand, and almost dropped them in shock.
Konzen Douji was standing in the middle of the room, Tenpou's battered katana in his right hand, the scabbard in his left, and he was staring at them as if he'd never seen a blade before. The sunlight streaking in from the window turned his hair to molten gold and the deity's amethyst eyes glowed. "You use this on them, don't you? The beings from the Lower World." Tenpou carefully put down the tea and approached his friend.
"Yes," he admitted, frowning, his green eyes narrowing.
"But the rules being as they are, you've never taken a human life. You've spilled their blood, maybe even made them want to die, but you've never killed." Tenpou shook his head as Konzen lifted his own and pierced him with his gaze. "Have you ever wanted to?"
Tenpou swallowed hard, but managed to meet Konzen's purple eyes. "Once or twice, I suppose. Why?" He was astonished to see Konzen's hand tremble on the hilt for a moment before his grip firmed on the katana, and the point raised until it was pointed at Tenpou's face. "Konzen-?"
"I've never fought for real, never been allowed to face an opponent who was really trying to kill me." Those beautiful eyes narrowed with malice, and Tenpou prayed the rage in them was not for him. "I just get to sit, and read, and sign documents that no one will ever read or use. I'm just so fucking bored!" Tenpou read the blonde deity's desire in an instant and darted to Konzen's side, closing his left hand on Konzen's slender wrist and clapping this right to the katana's blade to stop Konzen Douji throwing the weapon across the room.
"Now, Konzen," he grunted, straining against the other's strength for a moment. "I have some rather valuable books on these shelves that I don't want damaged." He staggered a little when Konzen gave up and let the sword and scabbard go, and watched the other god in astonishment as Konzen dropped back to the cushions as if nothing had happened. Tenpou hastily sheathed the blade and returned it to it's place on the wall, struggling to think of something to say. It was the warm wetness on his right hand that made him speak, blurting the words out in shock. "I'm bleeding," Tenpou said in absolute surprise.
His right hand was cut, a slice across his palm from where he'd grabbed the blade. Absolutely nothing, a tiny scratch. And something that should not have happened. He was in his own chambers, in the Palace, protected by his immortality, looking at his own sword... Oh, he thought. "Held by a god was enough, eh?" he muttered to the katana. "Traitor." He shook his shabby white coat from his shoulders and went hunting through the drawers of his desk, muttering and huffing, ignoring the curious looks Konzen was giving him. He stalked back to the cushions and sank down, shoving a handful of fabric at the blonde figure opposite him.
"You made it able to cut me. So you clean up the mess." Tenpou was annoyed enough that he thrust his hand into Konzen's face, and was gratified that the purple-eyed god flinched at the crimson that smeared Tenpou's fingers and wrist. Hesitantly, Konzen poked at the blood with the cloth Tenpou had given him as the field Marshal removed his tie and continued to grumble.
Inept as Konzen was as doctoring, it wasn't long before the wound was cleaned and bandaged. "Why don't you just heal it?" Konzen demanded, frantically scrubbing at the blood that had got on his hands.
"I can't," Tenpou replied coolly. "That blade was created to never lose its edge, and create wounds that would heal slowly when wielded by my hand. You obviously have enough... presence... to make it work for you, too." He lit a cigarette and winced.
"Shit." Amethyst eyes met green for a moment, then Konzen looked away. "Why'd you have to go grabbing the damn thing anyway?"
"Konzen, my friend, the better question..." Tenpou took a long drag and took his time to blow the smoke out. "The better question is what has you so riled up that my own damn sword thought you wanted to make someone bleed?" Tenpou watched Konzen shift uncomfortably. His voice was soft but furious as he spoke again. "You're so bored cutting me up is a relief for you? I'm so glad I could be of service, my Lord."
Konzen's head snapped up, his golden hair flying as he glared at Tenpou. "How dare you-!" he began. Tenpou thrust his bound right hand at Konzen again, and was rewarded by the other god's silence. Then he sighed, his anger melting away.
"Konzen..." Tenpou shook his head. "Konzen, I know what it's like. Why do you think I stay locked in here most of the time? These books are better company than most of the residents of this palace. They tell me things that make me feel... alive."
"Alive..." Konzen sighed, his shoulders slumping as all the fight left him. "Yes, that's just it, isn't it. We're gods, and we're less alive than those we have the nerve to call lower beings." His purple eyes closed as Konzen bowed his head. Hesitantly, Tenpou reached out and touched his old friend's hand with his unbandaged fingers. "Not alive enough to truly live, but too immortal to die," Konzen said with a bitter laugh, his fingers gripping Tenpou's. When he lifted his head, Tenpou was horrified at the bleakness in his amethyst stare.
"Konzen, you don't... You don't want to... die, do you?" Tenpou forced himself to ask, dreading the answer he might receive.
"Hmph." Konzen looked away. "I'm starting to think anything would be better than this life." His tone made the word a curse.
"No," Tenpou said firmly, giving Konzen's hand a little shake and making the other god look at him. "When you're dead, nothing changes." Konzen gave another bitter laugh.
"You mean, like it is now? Eternal bliss my ass. We're just rotting away up here, dying slowly without the ever having of the relief of actually being dead." The purple eyes closed again, and all light died in the beautiful face, but he did not let go of Tenpou's hand. "I've had enough of this bliss."
"No," Tenpou said again. "Think of everyone who counts on you, Konzen. Goku, and Kenren, and your aunt Kanzeon Bosatsu. If you weren't here, they'd probably be very upset. And I..." He let his voice trail off. Konzen's eyes opened just a slit. Tenpou clamped down on his emotions and wished he'd bitten his own tongue off rather than say the last in that tone.
"And you, Ten-chan? What would you feel if I... wasn't here?" It was Tenpou's turn to shift uncomfortably and look away.
"You are my oldest, and best friend in this life, Konzen. I would miss you terribly." Tenpou strove for dignity.
"Liar," Konzen murmured, stroking the fingers that lay in his. "How did I never see it, Tenpou?" He shook his head, golden hair sliding across his shoulders. "And with my aunt being who she is, how did she miss it? I'll ask her later." With his free hand, he slid his fingers beneath Tenpou's chin and turned the other man to face him, no hint of his earlier mood in his demeanor. His amethyst eyes captured the Tenpou's green ones.
"I would miss you very much, Konzen. Life would be so much... duller, without you." Tenpou was pleased that his voice was steady and calm, since his heart was galloping in his chest and he was finding it hard to breathe as those long, delicate fingers stroked his cheek. He wanted... Ah, he wanted! He clenched his free hand and the bite of the wound in his palm made it a little easier to think, to push past the dreams he'd had of Konzen. Konzen, naked and sweating in his bed and in his arms, that beautiful sunlight hair dishevelled and those purple eyes glazed with passion.
"How long... How long have you..." Konzen didn't seem to know how to finish the question, and Tenpou couldn't help but smile, even though it was a sad one. "It doesn't matter," the blonde god said, shaking his head. His fingers shifted to cradle Tenpou's face, and he slowly drew the other man forward until their faces almost touched. "It doesn't matter," he whispered again, and pressed his lips to Tenpou's. Delighted shock coursed through Tenpou, and for a moment he couldn't react. Then he was kissing Konzen back, a flood of repressed passion roaring up to drown him. For a few moments that stretched into infinity, Tenpou's awareness was narrowed to the scent of Konzen's skin, the warmth of his touch and the taste of his mouth.
They broke apart, breathing heavily as they stared into each other's eyes. Awareness of the rest of the world came back to Tenpou, making his groin ache with disappointment. Goku was sleeping just a few yards away, and Kenren could come visiting at any moment. Konzen's eyelids drooped once again, veiling his purple gaze.
"Where is Kenren?" Konzen asked, his voice much hoarser than normal. Tenpou shook his head, somewhat off put by the other god speaking the question that was on his own mind.
"He was... called to a meeting. I don't know when he'll be back." He was surprised by the lustful smile that curved Konzen's lips.
"Then I don't have much time, do I?"
"Konzen, what-?" Tenpou began, but stopped in shock when the blonde god pushed him onto his back amongst the cushions and began to unbuckle Tenpou's belt. "But Goku is-"
"Shut up," the purple-eyed deity growled. "He can sleep through anything." A breath later, Tenpou lost the ability to form coherent speech as Konzen closed his hand around around his erection and tugged gently. His thoughts went foggy, and he couldn't help the groan that trickled from his lips. Konzen took Tenpou's hard member into his mouth, and Tenpou couldn't resist lifting himself on his elbows to watch. He moaned at the sight of the golden head bobbing above his groin as Konzen licked and sucked, taking Tenpou's full length deep into his throat. His sight blurred as a white curtain dropped across Tenpou's vision, and he heard himself cry out as he came harder than he ever had before.
Sight and movement came back slowly. As he blinked, Konzen's grinning face leaned into his field of vision, his hair giving him a beautiful golden halo. "I think I've just found something that doesn't bore me."
Tenpou couldn't resist. "I'm so glad... to be of... service," he panted, smiling up at Konzen, who gave a rare laugh in return. A noise startled them, and Tenpou tucked himself back into his pants just in time to see a sleepy Son Goku stagger into the room.
"Hey, guys, I thought I heard someone yell," the boy yawned. Konzen grunted and rose to his feet.
"Nobody yelled. You must have dreamed it. C'mon, we've taken up enough of Marshal Tenpou's time." Goku grinned and bounced to the door.
"OK! See you later, Ten-chan!" And with that the pair were gone. Field Marshal Tenpou of the Western Armies of Heaven flopped back onto the cushions and wondered if it was all just a wonderful day dream. Then the fingers of his right hand clenched around Konzen's clumsy bandage, and he smiled.