Saiyuki Battle zone

Chapter 1

Mysterious Girls

As the sun began to set, an iron jeep with four weary travellers drove down a dusty road. As the sun gradually disappeared over the horizon, the second eldest of the travellers with the monocle pulled the jeep into a small country town to rest up for the night. The eldest, a blonde priest with an ancient scripture around his shoulders, pulled out one of his cigarettes and lit it. The young boy at the back yawned loudly, stretching his arms and then rubbed his eyes sleepily. The red haired man with two scars on his face folded his arms behind his head as he helped the driver look for an inn.

"Hey guys... I'm hungry!" stated the young boy and the priest grit his teeth in annoyance. That was the last thing he wanted to hear at that moment, and the announcement from the boy wasn't news to his ears. He was very tempted to reach into his pocket and pull out his silver banishing gun, but used his little remaining patience to refrain from doing so.

"Like that's something new..." muttered the red head and the young boy frowned at him in annoyance. The driver chuckled slightly as he prepared himself for an argument to arise in the back, but no foul words were exchanged. The priest blinked at the two in the back, surprised just as much as the driver.

"What's the matter Goku? Normally you're not that hungry that you don't want to pick a fight with Gojyo" asked the priest and Goku folded his arms around his stomach to display how hungry he was.

"Well, that's something new, isn't it Sanzo?" asked the driver and Sanzo smirked to himself as he turned around to look at the front again.

"Guess the monkey has tricks up his sleeve after all, hey Hakkai?" asked Sanzo and Hakkai nodded, chuckling slightly.

"Forget about the monkey having tricks or not, we gotta find us an inn before it gets too dark! I don't wanna sleep out on the ground again tonight!" exclaimed Gojyo and Sanzo nodded in agreement. They continued driving through the town and it wasn't long before a sign reading 'inn' appeared in the distance.

"I believe that's one right there. I hope they have vacancies" stated Hakkai as they drove closer to the inn. When they reached the entrance of the inn they stopped and all exited the jeep, allowing it to transform in a brilliant white glow into a small white dragon that flew and landed on Hakkai's shoulder. They walked into the inn and made their way to the register. A lady with long brown hair walked to the counter with a sorrowful expression on her face. Hakkai blinked a few times with a confused expression on his face.

"I'm sorry; we no longer have any more rooms. You'll have to find accommodation elsewhere" she said and then walked back into a room along the corridor.

"Aw, then no food?" asked Goku as he held his stomach in his hands again. Laughter suddenly emitted behind the four men as they turned to see a young lady with long pink hair and blue eyes giggling hysterically. She wore a lavender kimono and a gold necklace with a blue gem inside.

The men stared at her for a few minutes, wondering why she was laughing at them. She noticed this and stopped laughing, looking at the men, smiling.

"Oh, sorry about that. Are you guys looking for a place to stay? All the inns are full here, but there's plenty of room at my place" she said and the men looked at each other questionably.

"Is there food?" asked Goku and the lady chuckled slightly at the boy's question. She nodded and that seemed to make Goku trust her instantly. He began tugging at Sanzo's sleeve of his robe, going on about wanting to go to her place for the night.

"I think it may be our only choice Sanzo. I say we go" stated Hakkai and Sanzo looked at him. Gojyo was grinning madly at the thought of staying at her place. Sanzo saw this and pulled out his white paper fan and struck Gojyo on the head with it. Gojyo held his head in pain.

"What was that for you stinking monk?" he yelled and Sanzo glared at him in annoyance. The girl looked at them blankly, blinking a few times in confusion. Hakkai and Goku walked to the girl and walked with her outside as Gojyo and Sanzo followed behind while Gojyo kept yelling insults at Sanzo.

"Are they always like that?" asked the lady and Hakkai chuckled and nodded. Goku jumped into the jeep again and Hakkai sat in the driver's seat.

"Exactly how far away is your place? If it's a fair distance we may need you to give us directions there and we'll give you a lift there" asked Hakkai and the girl smiled, pointing over the hill that was a long distance from the village.

"I live a long way away, but that's just something that has to happen for me, safety wise I mean" she answered and Hakkai looked at her in confusion. What could she have meant by that? The lady noticed this and smiled at Hakkai.

"You'll see when we get to my place. It's not really me that needs the protection, but rather those I live with" she answered and Hakkai nodded, pointing to the spare seat in between Gojyo and Goku. She immediately stepped into the jeep and sat between the two boys and gave Hakkai directions to the house as the jeep began to drive in that direction.

Once they arrived after about a half hour drive they stopped outside a fairly nice, yet rather large cottage. The lady jumped out of the jeep and rushed to the door, opening it and yelling inside the house. The gang jumped out of the jeep and walked closer to the house as Hakeryuu transformed and landed on Hakkai's shoulder. The lady turned around to smile at the gang as two young girls walked out of the house. One was rather quiet and serious; the second was giggly, loud and talked as much as Goku. The quiet one had short red hair and red eyes, and she wore a white and purple kimono. The loud one had blue hair and purple eyes and wore lots of jewellery and a light blue kimono.

"Hisako, Ruka, say hello to our guests. They'll be staying with us for the night, so please make them feel welcome, alright?" asked the lady and the two girls nodded to her.

"Alright mummy, but who are our guests?" asked the blue haired one and the gang gasped a little. She didn't look any older than Sanzo, so how could this young girl be her daughter? The lady noticed this and looked at them, laughing.

"They're not really my children. They're adopted I guess you could say. They had nowhere to go, so I took them in seen as I was on my own anyway. But I have to ask, what're your names anyway?" she said and the gang looked at each other.

"I'm Genjo Sanzo, these are my followers, Cho Hakkai, Sha Gojyo and Son Goku" answered Sanzo and the lady gasped, covering her mouth with her hand in shock.

"You mean you're the Sanzo Party? I had a feeling you were a Sanzo priest, but not that Sanzo priest! Please forgive our rudeness, I'm Lily Chrysanthemum. These are my adopted daughters, Ruka and Hisako. They don't remember what the rest of their names are for some reason, so it's just Ruka and Hisako. So please, come in and make yourselves at home!" said Chrysanthemum and she turned, walking inside the house and issued for the gang to follow her.

A few hours later the party was sitting at the table in the main room as Ruka and Hisako were sitting on the floor nearby, playing with some toys.

"So, can we trust them?" asked Sanzo and Gojyo turned to look at him.

"Why not? Not every nice person who offers us stay is evil. Maybe she's just generous at heart" stated Gojyo and Sanzo cursed him under his breath.

"Gojyo, that young girl, Ruka, she's a half demon, isn't she?" asked Hakkai and Gojyo looked at Hakkai in shock. His shock wore off as he turned to look at Ruka again. She was laughing at Hisako who was pulling a funny face.

"Yeah, I was wondering how long it would take you guys to notice" answered Gojyo as he smiled to himself while he continued to watch Ruka. She seemed slightly shy and a little timid, but she looked very happy for a half demon.

"And what about the other girl, Hisako? She's not human" asked Sanzo and Goku looked at him in question.

"Not human? You mean she's demon?" asked Goku and Sanzo nodded at him. Goku blinked in astonishment for a second, and then looked at Hisako as she continued to laugh and play with her toys.

"Well, despite the fact that she's a demon, she seems to have a great sense of self and is able to maintain her sanity quite well" stated Hakkai and Goku nodded in agreement.

"Besides, she's just a child, she wouldn't be able to do much to us if she went berserk anyway!" exclaimed Goku and then Sanzo's attention went to Chrysanthemum, who was chopping away in the kitchen, preparing their meal.

"All that aside, what do you make of our host?" asked Sanzo and Hakkai looked at her, watching her with a curious expression.

"I wonder if that necklace is a power limiter? It holds great power in it, and she's not entirely human from what I can sense. But she doesn't look like a half demon, and there's a trace of human in her so she can't be entirely demon. Strange, I've never met someone like her before" stated Hakkai, thinking aloud. Goku looked at him with a blank expression.

"I've heard a legend about a half demon that didn't look like one and had to wear a power limiter, despite the human blood that ran in their veins. They're a mixture of demon and priestess or priest. The forbidden taboo child, the ultimate sin. I think she's one of them, but they're very rare" answered Sanzo and then Chrysanthemum turned to everyone with a huge serving plate of food for them. She placed it on the table and then smiled as they grabbed a smaller plate each and began to eat.

"Excuse my asking Chrysanthemum, but are you a half demon between a demon and priest or priestess?" asked Goku and Sanzo hit him on the head with his fan. Chrysanthemum gasped a little, and then looked at the ground sadly.

"Yes, you see, my mother was a priestess and my father was a demon. I had two twin brothers as well, but one day the village we were in captured us all and got ready to kill us. My mother used her powers to give me a chance to escape with my brothers, but along the way to our escape they were captured as well and I managed to make it our safely. I then watched in the shadows as they were all burnt to the stake" she answered as a tear fell down her cheek and hit the floor. Sanzo looked up, seeing the tear and nearly choked on his food.

Crying could then be heard from the next room as Hisako walked up to Chrysanthemum, crying her eyes out. Chrysanthemum looked down at her, asking her what was wrong.

"Bunny's missing!" answered Hisako, still sulking and sobbing. Chrysanthemum's head shot straight up as she looked around for Bunny. She then opened the door to the outside and rushed outside, calling out for Bunny. Hisako sat at the table, wiping her tears and letting out sobs every now and then. Hakkai stood and walked over to her, patting her shoulder. She looked up at him with the most innocent look he'd ever seen.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll find Bunny" reassured Hakkai and Hisako nodded, smiling with teary eyes. Hakkai smiled slightly, wondering what on earth 'Bunny' was. Sanzo pulled his glasses out of a pocket in his robes and put them on as he started reading the newspaper. Gojyo stood and walked to Ruka, who had continued to play, and sat down, playing with her and talking to her. Goku kept eating like he hadn't eaten in years.

Meanwhile Chrysanthemum looked nearly everywhere outside, and then looked up at the sky as she heard a loud crack of thunder and saw a flash of lightning strike nearby. She didn't even flinch but heard a little squeaky noise as it started pouring with rain. Chrysanthemum's hair became saturated and so did her clothes. She rushed to the source of the sound and bent down under the fallen metal that lay on the ground. She kept reaching underneath, despite what may be under it and how muddy she got, and fished out a little white bundle of fur. She then turned and rushed back into the house and walked to Hisako, who had tried her tears and was telling Hakkai how he was unusually nice for an outsider. Chrysanthemum cleared her throat and everyone in the house turned to look at her. Hisako gasped in joy and stood.

"Bunny! You found him mummy!" she exclaimed in joy as she rushed to Chrysanthemum. She handed Hisako the little white bundle and Hisako hugged it with love.

"Be more careful with him Hisako. He was hiding from the storm, try not to lose him again, okay?" asked Chrysanthemum and Hisako looked up at her, nodding. The little bundle squeaked again and uncurled itself to reveal a little white, fluffy monkey. Goku rushed over to Hisako and patted its head.

"Aw, what a cute little monkey! But I have to ask, why'd you call it Bunny?" Goku asked and Hisako giggled, smiling while hugging Bunny.

"Because he's white like a bunny, and soft like a bunny!" answered Hisako and Goku chuckled slightly. Sanzo looked at Chrysanthemum and the state she was in. No one had mentioned she looked cold and wet and muddy, and she looked like she didn't care either. Ruka and Gojyo then walked back into the kitchen and Gojyo was ruffling Ruka's hair and she was giggling. Suddenly another flash of lightning struck nearby the back door, which was just glass, meaning the entire room was lit in a bright white glow for a second. Hisako and Ruka shrieked in fright while Chrysanthemum didn't even flinch. The girls ran to Chrysanthemum, griping the lower part of her kimono and burying their faces in the soft fabric as fear overwhelmed them. Chrysanthemum put a hand on each of their heads, patting them slightly.

Chrysanthemum looked at the Sanzo Party apologetically as she led the girls to their rooms and tucked them into bed. She then walked back into the kitchen and showed them their rooms. Sanzo lay on his bed as he contemplated the events of the day. He was in a house with a strange, yet very attracting young lady who had two adopted daughters that looked about half her age, and was sleeping in a bed opposite her room and they knew almost nothing of her except that she was a product of the ultimate sin. He smiled to himself thinking it was just an ordinary day for them, and then he let his conscious fade for the night.

Hakkai was lying on his bed, sniffing the incense he'd lit, and drinking a glass of water he'd left on the table. He then put the glass on his table and then drifted off to sleep. Goku was already in bed, fast asleep, snoring his head off. Gojyo was lying on his bed, thinking about Ruka and how she must have been feeling, being a half demon herself. Hisako and Ruka were fast asleep, breathing quietly.

Chrysanthemum stood in her room, watching the lightning and the rain, wide awake. Her curtains were drawn back so every flash of lightning made the room go a brilliant white. This storm reminded her of the one her mother had summoned in order to help her children escape, however only one managed to do so, and she'd been on the run ever since. She then heard a little squeak and turned to see Bunny, climbing up her kimono and onto her shoulder. The little white monkey squeaked and smiled at her, she smiled back at him, patting his head, and then continued to watch the storm with a very serious expression on her face.

Something was on its way to the house, and it was something dark, very dark. She sensed demonic aura, and it was after one thing. Genjo Sanzo, and there was no way she was going to let that happen! Not without a fight!