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+ Burgundy Bruises +

WARNING: I will repeat, this is a yaoi story. That means, for those of you who don't know, the action of two men dating. Some violence along with male/male sexual encounters will happen. Do not read this if you are offended or dislike such a thing occurring.

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki, Gojyo, or Hakkai. I do however own the few original characters in this fan fiction.

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Chapter 1

The twenty-mile walk to the dojo was a rather familiar one, he still remembered running excitedly down the very same path with his absent-minded father trailing behind when he was only five. No matter how many springs flew by, the winding trees lining the gravel road still bloomed full of pink blossoms every year. Wire framed glasses slid defiantly down his elegantly sloping nose, which he pushed up distractedly with one pale index finger.

He hadn't been looking forward to attending this year, like he had so ignorantly when he first peered over his spectacles at the impressive wide bricked building that was now slowly coming into view. He could see the upturned curves of the pristine black tiled roof peeking over the trees. Hakkai's slender legs, clothed in the customary plain cotton white pants, strained with effort not only from the journey, but the current trek up his obstacle.

Shone Dojo sat on the top of a very large hill covered in forestry. Where the dirt road ended, flat rocks were half sunken into the cool moss covered ground to serve as steppingstones. With the amount of students he saw come and go, he'd think that they would have the funds to pave a much easier path. Once half way, Hakkai sighed quietly to himself, halting his progress for a moment to enjoy the soft breeze that ruffled his thick black hair. He closed his strikingly green eyes and let the wind cool the sweat beading off his brow. Perhaps this spring, he thought somewhat hopelessly, things will be easier.

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Honestly, it was like being back in pre-school, thought the tan red head in the corner. When he had signed up for this summer program, a bunch of vulgar and easy-going kids playing frizz-bee in what looked like a millionaire's living room was not what he had pictured. Apart from the intricately designed rugs, there were dimly lit lamps with sculptures of various human forms as their base, and a very elegant looking chandelier hanging down the middle of the dome shaped ceiling. Although comfortable, the color scheme was rather dark, much like the outside of the establishment with it's traditional Japanese appeal.

Gojyo's eyes peeked sideways though his curtain of burgundy locks just in time to see a particularly noisy one of the boys smirk and launch the frizz-bee directly towards his awaiting face. Without so much as blinking, his hand snapped up and snatched the rapidly rotating disk from it's path, then he reluctantly slouched up and out of his chair to grin arrogantly across the room.

Clearly surprised, but not wanting to loose face in front of the participating classmates in the game, he set his features straight and boldly held up his hand for a return serve. The new guy may be a good catch, but that didn't mean he had a good throw, thought the boy. The red head, rather than tossing it back, was now idly spinning the toy on his index finger, "You sure you want it back?" His tone was playful, but his eyes said that he was clearly not at all amused. The boy sputtered angrily for a moment and said, "Fine, if you can't even throw it across a room, come and bring it to me!"

Gojyo quit his taunting and braced the frizz-bee in one tightly coiled arm, his stance crouched low while his body flexed like a leopard ready to pounce, sending the object hurdling with a alarming speed back towards his prey. However, some of his classmates had better reflexes than he originally thought, and he watched the boy fall to one knee to avoid the impact that would have surely broken his nose.

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Hakkai winced as the finely polished red steps creaked in protest at the weight he put on them, but kept his focus on the two small scaled dragon torsos protruding from a pair of dark mahogany doors instead, because he knew that as soon as his trembling hands clasped those ridiculously vicious looking door handles, that all his hope for solitude and peace would evaporate. He prayed that his quickly vanishing optimism would remain somewhat intact when he faced his teacher.

The dark haired boy took a deep breath and closed his eyes, preparing himself to deal with the occupants inside. Even through the thick wood he could hear the shouts of the other kids inside. "Really now, it's the first day," he whispered with a half-hearted chuckle. Opening his eyes he reluctantly tugged open the door.

The first thing he heard was, "HEAD'S UP!"

And first thing he saw, was black.

v v v v v v v v v v v v v v

"Hakkai?" His head was spinning as he floated in a peaceful sea of nothingness. The voice that was beckoning him made him afraid. No, he didn't want to go back to that world of pain he vaguely felt peeking through the abyss. "Hakkai, wake up. NOW." Groaning, he obeyed the stern voice and smiled gently once he saw who it was, Sensei Michael. He always had everyone call him Mike. "I want none of this 'Sensei Michael Sir' business," he once said. It was often hard to believe that he was a police officer in his earlier years.

Mike was a man in his mid-thirties with sharp blue eyes, a muscular form required for a Sensei, and bronze skin. His dark silver hair was pulled away from his hard features in a low ponytail, one which matched the color of the five o'clock shadow on his squared jaw, giving him a particularly rugged appearance.

Once he saw that Hakkai was awake, he breathed out a dramatic sigh of relief and wiped the sweat that had been collecting on his brow. He had sworn that as his duty, he would not conduct another year in which this student went though anymore physical, or emotional turmoil. This was not a very good start. Never the less, he grinned down at the fallen boy, "So…how ya doin?" Which made emerald-eyed boy staring up at him a bit exasperated.

Even though Mike was definitely not someone to be taken lightly, he was a complete goof ball most of the time. "Looks like the new kid's already one with the crowd, in the bully department anyway."

Hakkai, puzzled by the man's comment, sat up and felt something wet slide off his forehead. He looked down and suddenly wished he hadn't, it was a cloth stained with blood.

"Wha-"

"Don't worry," Mike interrupted, suddenly in a state of seriousness and calm, "the cut isn't that deep even though it was a bleeder, but your pretty much fine now. The blood's stopped and I already cleaned the wound." Hakkai watched blankly as his Sensei picked up the cloth and dropped it into a bowl of pinkish water next to his crossed legs. Inside he was still very confused, but he hardly ever let anything show, and bid his time to ask questions incase his sensei told him willingly without prodding.

It was then that Hakkai noticed where he was, it was one of the two large rooms that his classmates where split up in to sleep. Both were identical, large with dark wooden floors and red futons propped a foot above the ground with simple steel barred frames, spread out in neatly rowed columns. His own bed, which he currently rested in, was at the far left corner next to the sliding paper doors that led out to the second floor balcony. Neither balcony had a stick of furniture on it, so Hakkai often wondered their purpose. Regardless, it was still nice to sit outside every once and a while to regain composure or recollect thoughts.

The boy let himself fall back down on his mattress with a light thump, and took a couple of moments to relax himself, then calmly asked Mike why he was here and about the blood. "WHAT?" Mike practically yelled. "You don't remember? Well now that I think about it that's no big surprise. That frizz-bee whacked you pretty hard."

"Frizz..bee?"

"But don't worry about it. There wasn't a lot of damage. Your face just won't look so pretty anymore, and the toy was confiscated. This summer won't be a cake walk, that's for sure."Hakkai was starting to get irritated. Mike had a bad habit of interrupting, rambling, and being extremely vague.

"Anyway," Mike went on, "the second you stepped through that door, that thing was flying right for your head. Some one yelled for you to move a split second before BAM! Lights out, there was a lot of commotion while I scooped you up and ran you to the student quarters. I put some ice down to stop most of the swelling, curbed the bleeding, and cleaned the wound but there will still be a pretty nasty mark there for a bit."

He then reached behind himself and produced a small hand mirror and held it up to Hakkai's face for his inspection. The boy looked despairingly at the sloping cut that ran from the center of his forehead to the edge of his right eyebrow. The skin surrounding the injury was tinged purple, bruising he assumed.

"Oh my, that does look rather bad."

"It will heal, quicker than you may believe, as I'm sure you know the cuts small but the blood vessels beneath the skin are damaged. You'll just have a lovely bruise for a while, even after that slice on your head heals. Go ahead and rest up for now. You really don't need to be attending the first days lecture since you've heard it around fifteen times already," he assured with a wink.

Hakkai gave his Sensei a weak smile and watched him put the mirror in his back pocket, gather the bowel of bloodied water, and stand to take his leave. It was still daylight, since there was a soft unrelenting glow filtering through the sliding balcony doors. All of his other classmates must still be downstairs, with a substitute instructor.

Before he had a chance to turn and leave, Hakkai asked quickly, "Could you please tell me who…hit me? I would like to pay more careful attention to him in the future."

The burly man scratched his head and shrugged, "I really don't know for sure, but I'm guessing it was one of the new guys. I can tell you this though, the student with a stare as fiery as his hair color is quite the character. The second he got here I felt as though I should have had ropes handy to tie him down." Mike was already out of the room and about to close the door when he added, "Don't fret, I won't let anyone cause you anymore grief this summer."

Hakkai belatedly wondered what color this boy's hair was, but a soft 'click' let him know that the door was shut and it was already too late to ask. His shoulders slumped as he was once again, alone. With this final thought he drifted off into an uneasy sleep. He dreamed of a careful hand tracing the gash on his face, soothing over the pain filled flesh. The foreign touch turned suddenly violent, when it's index finger pushed down, hard on his cut, and dragged its fingernail across aching severed skin. With a small cry, Hakkai awoke with a start, the bed sheets twisted in a white-knuckled grasp as his heavy breathing matched the quickness of his frantically beating heart. Wide eyes swept across the room, taking in the slowly fading light from outside.

"It must be around dinner time," he whispered.

Pulling back the covers, he stood. He decided that he really didn't want to hang around, might as well go down and eat. Facing all of his 'friends' now would be better than waiting to be subjected to the usual crude jokes associated with any abnormal behavior. Yes, it was best just to try and remain as normal as everyone else, which included dining with the rest.

Hakkai started walking toward the door, feet tapping on the wood. He didn't bother trying to avoid the rows of futons around the room, and proceeded to step on them for leverage to quicken his pace towards his destination. Everyone was downstairs anyway.

Directly after this thought, he lifted his right foot to hoist himself up and over another bed and got tangled in something soft that was definitely not a pillow, in a delayed reaction out of shock, his body continued to try and shift forward. His eyes grew wide as he started to fall and heard a, "SON OF A- "

Hakkai's face then became promptly acquainted with the floor.

After a moment of laying sprawled on the ground, his glasses crooked which had his vision from his left eye blurred, a voice reached his ears, "What's your ass doing out of bed?"

He slowly turned his head and saw a person who looked about his age with a piercing gaze that could only accurately be described as blazing as the setting sun. The boy sat up, wincing slightly because Hakkai's foot was still tangled in his…

The other followed Hakkai's gaze up to his now mangled red locks. He knew red was not a common color for hair, but there was no need to stare and…to…

"What in the…"

On the left side of his head was a foot caught in a mass of tangles. Gojyo moved his stupefied stare from the foot, to a leg, to their owner.

Hakkai was in a panic. This was one of his new classmates, he was sure of it since he had never seen him before, and his first impression, which he had intended to be a short and polite introduction, has turned into a most embarrassing accident in which would surely lead to him being despised by this person immediately.

Gojyo's mouth opened and closed several times until he just resolved himself to staring at the green-eyed man on the floor. He's probably so angry that he doesn't know if he should yell or hit me first, Hakkai mused apprehensively.

The red heads lips then contorted into a shaky grin.

Oh dear, a sadist, the emerald eyed boy thought with increasing fear.

Though what he did next was unexpected to him. He did not lash out or yell, but rather started to chuckle. Hakkai had no idea what to do or why this boy was laughing, so he just resorted to watching timidly.

The other's hand went up and Hakkai almost flinched, thinking he decided to hit him first, but he merely clapped his hand over his eyes as he threw his head up, jerking Hakkai's leg in the process, and resumed laughing. "Hey, I know I'm new and all.." the red head mustered though his chuckles, "but I'll tell you right now.."

The door then choose this opportune moment to creak open as Gojyo was trying to finish his sentence while another head popped in the room, "Oi, I forgot to get you earlier, but dinner is…" Mike trailed off as he took in the scene before him. "…I'm not one for foot fetishes." Their sensei's expression had Gojyo reeling back with renewed laughter.

Hakkai was looking more distraught then ever, foot still in a clump of red hair, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening while Gojyo struggled to control his laughter.

"Well," Mike said to himself, "that's a start," and closed the door. On his way down the hall, he idly wondered if it was a good idea to let his new student try and befriend Hakkai. But the kid did seem sincerely worried that he had missed his target and hit some poor unsuspecting victim.

This cannot be good, Hakkai thought while he waited for Gojyo to regain himself. He knew the outcome once the red head recovered from his laughter would not be a pleasant one.

He was sure tha-

"Ha, hah, hah," Hakkai quickly covered his mouth, that laugh was unexpected from himself. His eyes focused back onto Gojyo who was currently untangling strands of hair from his foot with an amused smirk.

"Your ticklish," it was a statement.

Hakkai didn't know what to say, it was a discovery for him too. He can't remember the last time someone had touched him in a way that wasn't violent. Well, with the exception of a few paternal affections directed toward him when he was a child.

Once the new comer was done, he gladly removed his foot from Gojyo's side and turned himself over so he could sit up. His eyes darted back to the other who was now grinning in…what could only be described as an evil fashion.

So the sadist returns.

The boy abruptly leapt from his sitting position from the futon onto Hakkai, who gave a surprised, "Hmphff," at the sudden weight, and began tickling him mercilessly. Unable to help himself, Hakkai burst out laughing.

Gojyo smiled maniacally, those pricks downstairs said this guy would never crack a smile, let alone laugh and I've gotten him practically reduced to tears, he thought triumphantly. He continued his activities until he noticed the thick bruise that slanted off Hakkai's pale forehead, and found it none to appealingly. His smirk slipped off.

As soon as Gojyo stopped tickling, Hakkai stopped laughing and was gasping for breath.

Once his breathing started returning to normal, he looked up at Gojyo and gasped. The boy had his fierce red eyes merely and inch away from his face, and they were focusinf intently on his wound.

He whistled lowly and said, "Damn, I cut you up good."

Hakkai gaped like a fish for a few moments then jerked back violently, causing Gojyo to tumble backward. After he scrambled to his feet, he stared in astonishment at the red head who just sat himself up and crossed his legs, perfectly at ease.

"So you…you threw the frizz-bee?" He asked with a surprising twinge of disappointment.

"Hey man, it's not like I did it on purpose. The little shit moved at the last second when you came in." The response only caused Hakkai's expression to be politely perplexed.

Gojyo sighed and stood up so that he could be at eye level with the green-eyed boy, "The guy irritated me, alright? So I wanted to shut him up. It was a challenge, and I just don't back down from one of those," he put his hand behind his head and mused up his already tangled mop, "it's not my fault, nor was it my intention that you got caught in the crossfire. I just wanted to teach that asshole a lesson."

He then shifted his gaze from Hakkai's gaze to his cut. "Instead I ended up messing your pretty face," he said with a wink.

Hakkai stared at him as if he had sprouted a second head, and then managed, "I-Is that so?" He felt that the conversation had taken an uncomfortable turn. Whatever Gojyo was going to say next was suddenly interrupted by a low grumble from both of their stomachs.

"Guess it's time to eat," Gojyo said with a soft smile. This kid seemed nice, although awkward. He didn't want to scare him with his usual competitive attitude and wise cracks. So instead of picking on the fact that the boy looked about ready to faint for what ever reason, he simply turned and headed for the door without a word, choosing to let his classmate follow if he wished.

A moment of hesitation later, Hakkai closed the door Gojyo had opened behind him. Looking up, he saw that the red head was already halfway down the quiet hall, hands resting in his pockets. "Well?" he called over his shoulder as he walked. Hakkai caught up and fell into step beside him.

They walked side-by-side for a few silent minutes until Gojyo said, "So your Hakkai. That is your name, isn't it?" while stifling a yawn. It reminded the other boy that he had been the one to wake him from his nap, and he replied, "Yes, I am. And I'm sorry for your rude awakening earlier." As he said this, he watched the other carefully out of the corner of his vision, half expecting a punishment.

Ignoring the apology, "Gojyo," hee said proudly, jabbing his thump to his chest, "You should remember that name."

Hakkai lowered his gaze to the floor, his choppy black hair covered a shadow of a smile in his now vacant eyes, "Certainly."

Moments later, each of them had a hand latched to a handle connecting to a pair of double doors. Together they tugged open the entrance to the dining hall. Hakkai with a carefully placed blank expression, Gojyo with a cocky smirk, light flooded onto them as they faced their peers.

TBC…

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A/N: The revised version of BB. Only very minor things have been changed and should not affect the original story. I am going through what is already posted before updating the final chapters, because I'm sure that it would strike the reader as odd for the last chapters to be better written than the earlier ones. The most of what I am doing is merely improving spelling, grammar, and some descriptions. This first chapter has been edited as of March 9, 2009.