Author's Note: HOMG! I live! My first fic in over two years, hot damn. Just a small bit about the semi-relationship between Hakkai and Yaone. This is set during episode 18 of the anime, in which Yaone is captured by demon-hunting mercenaries. I take no responsibility for any misspelling of names; I can't find my manga so I'm guessing for the large part. (Also, this is not meant to be a pairing fic; I thoroughly support completely different pairings for both of them.) Anyway. Please read and review.

I don't own Saiyuki, or any of the characters therein (although there are some that I wish I did…). I make no money off of this, and have nothing to be sued for. We clear on that? Good.

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Something was going on in the camp. She could hear people yelling and distant explosions, and there was an unmistakable glow in the sky from a fire. She was too confused and hurting to figure out what was going on, but she hoped it wasn't an attack by one of the roving gangs of demons. They probably wouldn't stand a chance, and too many of them had already died at the hands of these so-called soldiers.

Footsteps caught her attention, and she made herself open her eyes, expecting to see the sadistic mercenary leader again. She certainly didn't expect to see the slender young man with the sash tied across one shoulder, firelight reflecting off his monocle. It took her a moment to collect her thoughts enough to talk, and by then, he was already there, carefully untying her. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled slightly and shook his head. "We can talk later." It only took him a moment to release her, but her legs refused to support her, and she fell against him. He pulled one of her arms around his neck, and wrapped his other arm around her waist to hold her up. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

"Why do you keep helping me?" She didn't understand him at all. They were on opposing sides of what was probably going to turn into a war. But he kept doing this… "I'm your enemy, and this isn't even your fight. Why are you wasting your time to help me?"

He chuckled softly as they made their way through the wreckage of the camp. "Well, I could say I'm doing it because I don't want Kougajii to descend on this place and tear apart every human he sees until he finds you." Another explosion tore through the night. "Since I think that's probably what's going on."

That hadn't occurred to her, and she wanted to tell him not to be ridiculous. But she remembered the way Kougajii had looked when he had stopped her from killing herself, and how reluctant he'd been to let her come check out what was happening to the demons in the area. He was probably right.

He was quiet for a moment before he continued. "But that's only a convenience excuse. We might be enemies because of circumstances, but I'd still like to think of you as my friend."

It took her an effort, but she turned to look at him. "Why?"

He met her gaze, and gave her a strange, brittle smile. "You remind me of a girl I used to know."

This was just her night for being surprised. Normally, she never would have asked such a question, and later she would blame her injuries and her confusion. "Used to…? What happened?"

With the way he was practically carrying her, she couldn't help but feel him tremble slightly. He didn't answer her right away, and she was on the verge of apologizing for being so very rude when he did, so quietly it was hard to hear him. "She died." He shook himself slightly, regaining his composure. "But I suppose it sort of makes me want to protect you. I mean, I understand that we might have to fight again, but I'd like to be able to keep you safe otherwise. I guess that sounds foolish."

She stared up at him. They were coming to a clearing near the edge of the camp; it looked like something was going on. "No. It just sounds like you're a nice man, Cho Hakkai," she heard herself saying.

He chuckled a little self-consciously. "Thank you for saying so." She could see what was going on in the clearing now. Sanzo and the others in his party were slightly ahead of them, and beyond them were Lord Kougajii, Lady Lirin, and Doukougakajii.

Lord Kougajii was leaning down, intimidating a soldier they'd caught. She heard her own name, but they were too far away for her to catch more than that. "Yaone is right here," Hakkai said, loud enough to be heard across the distance.

It was time for her to go home.