The Independant Variable

By Oozaru Angel

Kouryuu stormed off, fists clenched and tears held at bay by a mixture of rage, self-control, spite and the pride that comes with being a thirteen year old boy. Damn that Gojyo, damn him and his stupid jokes and damn Kouryuu for even giving a shit. Oh, so Gojyo thought he could say stuff like that just because he thought Kouryuu looked like a girl, huh? Oh, so he was so high and mighty just because he was the first kid in their class to get a girlfriend, huh? Oh, so Kouryuu was obviously a faggot just because he couldn't care less about those stupid sluts who spent all of lunchtime giggling over the boys playing soccer, huh?

Kouryuu slammed the front door to his house and ran up the stairs hoping Komyou wouldn't stop him to ask about the sizeable bruise forming on his arm. Not that it mattered, Gojyo wasn't going to be so pretty anymore with that black eye. Kouryuu smirked as he remembered the look on Gojyo's face when Kouryuu'd decked him. That'd teach him to try to... Kouryuu stopped that thought in it's tracks when he felt a blush start to rise on his cheeks and ran up the last two stairs at the same time.

Stupid Gojyo.

"Kouryuu! Kouryuu, wait up!" Gojyo ran, trying to catch up with his friend before Kouryuu reached his house, "Wait up, I didn't mean it!" He doubled over as he reached the Sanzo's front gate, gasping for air. Stupid Kouryuu, he was way to sensitive. Gojyo'd only been joking around, there hadn't been any reason to start a fist fight. Or, as fights between Kouryuu and Gojyo always turned into, a brawl. Hair pulling and biting were completely allowed if either participate wanted to get out with their pride. Gojyo wondered briefly if that bite he'd made on Kouryuu's shoulder had scarred.

I didn't mean to piss Kouryuu off so much, I was only been teasing. All the boys made fun of each other like that and of course you'd hit them or say something worse back but you didn't freak out that much. Okay, maybe Gojyo had taken it a bit further than the other boys did, a lot further actually, but it was only Kouryuu. And, of course, once Kouryuu'd freaked the fight had started to get much more personal, old grudges surfacing and comments that were intended to hurt being flown. Gojyo's known Kouryuu for years and he'd thought he'd have enough grace to keep Gojyo's step mother out of it. Though he'd said some pretty shitty stuff about Kouryuu as well, so...

"Hello, Gojyo."

The boy looked up, "Oh, hey, Mr Sanzo."

Kouryuu's father smiled, "Now, I've told you before to call me Komyou. 'Mr Sanzo' makes me feel old. Kouryuu is upstairs in his room if it's him you're here to see, by the way." He didn't comment on the bruise forming around the boy's eye. Gojyo probably already knew it was there.

"Thanks, Mr- uh, Komyou." Kouryuu's dad was really nice but he was kinda weird sometimes. Gojyo ran into the house and up the stairs, "Kouryuu!"

Kouryuu couldn't believe it. That bastard actually has the nerve to show up here? He opened he bedroom door just as Gojyo was about to start banging on it, "What the hell do you want, cockroach?"

Gojyo froze and realised he had no idea of what to say. He'd feel like an idiot for just apologising. "I wanted to ask what's wrong with you! You totally overreacted."

Kouryuu's mouth dropped open, "Says you!"

"Yeah, says me! What's the big idea? So I called you gay, I didn't mean it." Gojyo pouted and looked away while Kouryuu folded his arms and glared.

"You tried to kiss me."

"I was joking! I wasn't really gonna, that'd be gross!"

Kouryuu snapped, "Well, I don't care about anything you've got to say so fuck off!" He slammed the door in Gojyo's face. Stupid, stupid, stupid Gojyo. Kouryuu sat on his bed and glared at the carpet. He didn't care about Gojyo. He really didn't. It wasn't as if the stupid cockroach didn't make butterflies appear in his stomach and Kouryuu certainly didn't stare at him during lessons from the corner of his eye. And he certainly hadn't wanted to set fire to that stupid girl who'd kissed the stupid cockroach on the cheek and then ran off squealing.

Stupid Gojyo.

There was a knock on the door. "Come on, Kouryuu, let me in."

"No."

"Oh, come on! I'm sorry, alright?"

"Don't care."

"Stop being such a prissy girl and let me in, you bastard!"

"Fuck off."

There wasn't anymore noise and Kouryuu wondered if Gojyo had actually left. The idea made him feel furious. That dickhead had better still be there, Kouryuu thought, I'm not even done being mad at him yet! He stomped over to the door and stopped, suddenly nervous. He leant against the door and tried to hear if there was anyone out there. No noise.

"Gojyo?" He asked quietly, "You still there?"

Nothing.

"Gojyo?"

More silence. Finally, however, there was a reply.

"I really am sorry." Kouryuu heard Gojyo mutter, "I really was just kidding around, I didn't realise you'd freak out like that."

"Yeah, well, it was a stupid joke then," Kouryuu glared at the door as he spoke. Gojyo didn't reply and Kouryuu shifted, suddenly feeling guilty. He turned around so his back was to the door and sat on the carpet. "I didn't mean that about your mother."

"You said that the only sane thing that had ever come out of her mouth was about how much of a shit I was."

"Yeah, well," Kouryuu tried to think of a satisfactory reply, "I lied."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I've heard her get the day of the week right sometimes as well."

Kouryuu heard Gojyo snort in laughter, "Yeah, well I've heard her call you a hopeless little retard with an attitude problem."

"See? Absolutely no sense at all." Kouryuu grinned as he heard Gojyo start to laugh for real. He opened the door to see him rolling around on the floor in hysterics. Kouryuu raised an eyebrow, "It wasn't that funny."

"Bwahaha... I- hehe- I know." Gojyo grinned at Kouryuu from the floor, "I guess this means you're not mad at me any more?"

Kouryuu knew he was blushing again so he turned around and huffed, "I suppose it's the only way to stop you whinging."

"Me whinging? You're the girl!"

"I am not!" Kouryuu spun around to glare at Gojyo but the redhead just laughed again, "At least I don't try to kiss other guys, you're the girl here!"

"Nah," Gojyo stood up and brushed some dust off his pants, "I'm just a man who's comfortable with his own sexuality." He grinned cheekily but suddenly got a thoughtful look on his face, "Aren't you? Judging by the way you always freak out whenever I so much as touch you..."

Kouryuu sputtered and knew there was no way to hide the blush he could feel on his cheeks, "I'm so not listening to you. Get the hell out of my house already, go bother Gonou. God knows he's the only one who finds your bullshit funny."

"But I'm not joking this time, Kouryuu," Gojyo's eyes went wide to show his innocence, "And it was just a simple question. Though I think that if we want the answer we might have to do an experiment." Gojyo took a step forward, "Now, if I'm the controlled variable and you're the dependent variable," Gojyo's face was suddenly very close, "then the independent variable is..."

"What?" Kouryuu snapped, daring Gojyo to try something. He desperately wanted to back away but he wasn't going to let the idiot think he was afraid of him. He was just so close, so close that the details on his face were starting to blur. Kouryuu had suspected that he needed reading glasses for some time now, but damnit this was not the best way to figure it out for sure. If he does anything perverted, I'll just beat the crap out of him.

Gojyo smirked, "This!" He kissed Kouryuu on the lips. It wasn't anything more than a peck but Gojyo could feel the softness of Kouryuu's lips and the heat from his mouth leave an imprint on Gojyo's mouth. Kouryuu felt a similar sensation and his mind went blank for a moment. His eyes automatically closed for a second and only opened very slowly as Gojyo pulled away.

Gojyo wasn't going to stick around to see what would happen when he snapped out of it, "Cya around, man! Bye!" He ran down the stairs and back onto the street, nearly knocking over Komyou on his way.

Kouryuu considered running after him to tell him off but he couldn't summon the energy. He closed his bedroom door and collapsed onto his bed.

After a little while, he placed his fingers over his lips and smiled. He had no idea what happened next but he could worry about that later. And beat up the cockroach for being such a pervert, of course.

Stupid Gojyo, he thought as the small smile became a smirk.

AN: My first shounenai fic and my first completed fanfic in the Saiyuki fandom. Fear. Please be gentle with your reviews but tell me if I've made any errors or any sections of the writing is particularily clunky. I'm rather nervous about the first half. Please review, please. That being said, I don't think I've ever been flamed before. If you're a person who hates slash or just the 535 pairing, please let me know. Feel free to flame on that subject. It's never happened to me before and I'm rather curious as to what it's like. Plus, I've been craving toasted marshmellows all week and I'm out of matches to light my incense with. I could do with an open fire.

This was mainly written for the badfriends LJ Community. They're currently hosting the Festival of 53 so if you somehow haven't heard of it yet and you're a fan of the pairing (or don't mind us trying to convert you) please drop in.

Happy birthday, Gojyo-sama and Red-san.