Student of the Teacher
Summary: The Sanzo group has been traveling for only a short while, but suddenly they come upon a figure from Hakkai's past—a young girl of about twenty, who apparently knows more about Cho Gonou then most. Who is she? Why is she here? And….why is Hakkai acting so strangely all of a sudden? Time is shortly after Yaone.
Pairings: whatever. you tell me what you want; i'll try to use them. it all depends, though, on if its gunna work with the story….
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Notes: I will follow the book a lot, so basically it'll be the series with an extra character, more scenes, ect. By the way—Japanese shall be used, then explained after the chapter (along with other things). Just look for the numbers, kay?
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((authoress talking))
"character talking"
'character thinking'
flashback scene
"chanting"
singing
"telepathy"
A Student Returns
A young girl stood alone at the top of a hill, staring down at the devistation going on below her. Her own town, the place she had lived all of her life (excluding the past few months or so)—a burning, blackened landscape with almost no buildings in it.
And fewer survivors.
The girl's eyes were cloudy as she stared down at the scene before her, and she made a dicision.
"Whoever did this shall die by my hand," the girl said menacingly, her eyes suddenly gold with slits for pupils. (1) "I swear it."
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Three years later….
"Saaaaaaaaaaannzzzzooooooooo!.!.!.!.!!!!" Son Goku said, wandering down the halls of the newest inn they were at boredly. Sha Gojyo wasn't far behind, his usual cigarette hanging from his lip—unlit, an odd fanominon.
"Damn it, ya sad excuse for a piest, where the hell are ya?.!" the older one growled, obviously ticked. Suddenly, a gun was pointed at his head, causing him to stop with a nervous smile on his face.
"Shut the hell up, kappa," Genjyo Sanzo comanded, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Cho Hakkai stroaded up behind him, smiling nervously.
"Now, now, Sanzo, what would there be to gain by killing him?" the brunette asked, trying his best to be cheerful as Sanzo slowly put away his gun and Goku ran up to the other three.
"Gonou-sensei?.!" a young girl's voice asked suddenly from behind the group. Hakkai froze, his smile disappearing into a look of slight horror. The group turned.
Standing about two feet away, gaping in shock, was a girl of about twenty with short, light brown hair (she had red bangs, however) and sunglasses covering her eyes ((no, really? i thought they would be on her arse.)). She was tall (about the same hight as Gojyo), and she had 'nice curves' (as a certain pervy kappa would oh-so-nicely put it). She was wearing a tight crimson tube top under an open jean belly-jacket with the sleeves ripped off, tight black leather pants with slits up to the knees so that the bottom flowed out, black boots that went up to the middle of her calves with white swirl designs up the sides, and a blue pack wrapped around her right thigh. Her hair was hanging down to her chin in a bob, except her bangs, which fell down to her nose and was kept from the rest of her hair with a red headband (2). White bandages were wrapped around her right arm from her elbow over her hand and down to her knuckles (the boys wondered what for) (3), and there were four long, jagged scars on her neck as if someone had tried to slit her throat multiple times.
"Um…." Hakkai started, puzzled as to what to say.
The girl brightened visibley and raced forward, skidding to a stop just in time to give Hakkai a hug (which took him by surprise). As the girl pulled away, Hakkai realized he could see her eyes through the pink-tinted sunglasses—just not the color.
"Oh, Gonou-sensei, it really IS you!" the girl exclaimed, smiling brightly as she took a step back to look Hakkai up and down. "Man, four years changes a guy, huh?"
"Um…." Hakkai repeated, obviously still confused. The girl's face fell, but then she smiled again.
"Well, I guess four years changes a girl, too," she giggled, oblivious to the other three in the room (who were staring on in shock). The girl pointed to her own chest with a wink. "Its me—Nushi Yaiba!" (4)
Hakkai stared at her in shock.
"Y-Yaiba-chan?.!" he asked in disbeleif (5). The girl (Yaiba?) nodded like a bobblehead.
"Yep!" Yaiba said, obviously pleased that he had remembered. "Gonou-sensei, I've missed you so much!"
Hakkai was cut off before he could respond.
"Yo, Hakkai," Gojyo said, fed up with being left out of the loop. "Who's the chick?"
"Hakkai?" Yaiba repeated, suddenly very confused (6). Hakkai appeared not to have noticed.
"Oh, right," he said, smiling nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Um, guys, this is Nushi Yaiba, an old student of mine." (7)
Yaiba looked strait and Gojyo and bowed, her eyes not leaving the redhead as she did so.
"Hiya!" Goku said, causing Yaiba's gaze to move to him. "I'm Son Goku. Nice ta meet cha, Yaiba!"
Yaiba seemed to snap out of whatever had been the matter and smiled warmly. "Nice to meet you too, Goku-san," she said cheerfully.
'Too cheerfully….' Sanzo couldn't help but think. He noticed her nails were slightly long and painted with black nailpolish, the edges apparently serraded.
"Name's Sha Gojyo." The redhead gestured behind him at Sanzo, who was deep in thought. "The prick-of-a-priest behind me is Genjyo Sanzo."
This brought Sanzo back to reality as he aimed a gun at the back of Gojyo's head, clicking back the safety. "You're asking for death," he warned, eyes narrowed. Yaiba arched an eyebrow while Hakkai appeared embaressed.
"I'm sorry about them, Yaiba-chan," he said, smiling nervously. "They're….well, on the ends of their rope."
Yaiba shrugged. "I don't mind," she said, an uncaring look on her face unlike her previous smile as she leaned against the wall. Hakkai looked her up and down, his smile becoming real.
"Wow, Yaiba. It's been so long," he comented, his gaze pausing for a moment on the scratches on Yaiba's neck. Yaiba laughed, but it was hollow.
"Yeah, four years. I left to go to my aunt's for a few months—remember? And before that, I was a regular student in your class."
"One of my best." Hakkai tried his best to ignore the two raging behind him (Goku was watching with intrest as well), but it wasn't working out so well.
"Oh, stop it," Yaiba said, laughing for real this time. "You're going to make me blush, Gonou-sensei."
"Um, Yaiba," Hakkai said quietly, looking at his old student. "I'm not Cho Gonou anymore. I now go by Cho Hakkai."
Yaiba appeared puzzled, but shrugged, though she appeared sceptical. "Well, alright, Gou—erm, Hakkai-sensei."
"And I'm not your sensei anymore."
At this, Yaiba laughed. "You always will be to me, but okay, Hakkai-NOT-sensei."
Hakkai laughed as well, but then Sanzo appeared at his shoulder, Gojyo beaten to a bloody pulp by the priest's Fan of Doom with Goku laughing at him.
"Hakkai, we're going to drag this incompident kappa here to bed now," Sanzo comanded, something in his eyes that Hakkai couldn't identify.
"Alright," Hakkai said doubtfully. He turned back to Yaiba, who had bitten her lip as she looked away. Immidiately, Hakkai became worried. "Yaiba-chan? What's the matter?"
After a minute (which felt like hours to Hakkai), Yaiba looked at him, tears in her eyes. "Hakkai, I….I don't have a family anymore," she finally admitted, trying her best to keep the sobs from her voice (although Hakkai could hear them clearly). "I came back from my aunt's house and the village was ruined!"
Hakkai got a look that seemed to be a cross between shock and horror, but Yaiba was apparently too worked up to notice it (8). "M-my parents….th-they died by the hand of a youkai. That's what Getsuei told me." Softly, she added, "….on his deathbed. The youkai….the youkai ripped out his kidney and tore off his arm."
By this time, Gojyo had recovered and joined the group (along with Goku), and he was silently listening to the story. He, Goku, and Sanzo had varrying degrees of shock on their faces—from relatively no reaction (Sanzo) to a face that rivaled Hakkai's (Gojyo).
"Y-Yaiba…." Hakkai said softly, his eyes dark and clouded. "I-I-I'm sorry."
Yaiba wiped a tear out of her eye and smiled waterily up at Hakkai. "Its okay, Hakkai. You were out trying to save Kanan, right? There was nothing you could have done." (9) Hakkai avoided her eyes, but the (mostly) raven-haired girl continued anyway. "Really, though, I'm over it. I spent a month mourning, but then I got on the road—most proabably to get away from home and those memories."
There was silence for a few seconds, and then Hakkai looked at Sanzo. The blonde reconized the look in his friend's eyes imidiately.
"No," Sanzo said before Hakkai could ask anything. The latter didn't say anything—just stared at Sanzo as the other three looked on. Yaiba shuddered deeply.
"Is Hakkai-kun always this scary?" Yaiba asked Goku quietly, leaning down slightly so that she could whisper better (10).
"No," Goku said. Then he shuddered as well. "Unless he gets ticked."
"….FINE!.!" Sanzo finally shouted, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I give up! You win. She can come with. But if she gets in the way, I'll shoot right through her head."
And with that, Sanzo turned on his heel, stomping off down the hall and slamming the door to his room.
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(1): Meaning the eyes were normal, but then suddenly turned youkai, most probably meaning some youkai suddenly took off their limiter ((or did they…? keep reading to find out!.!)).
(2): If you've ever seen Naruto ((which i do not own)), then you'll know what I mean if I say its like Sakura's headband is placed between her bangs and the rest of her hair.
(3): Another Naruto referance, but this time to Lee's hand/arm wraps (except they're only on one hand).
(4): Her name means 'God ((also lover or master)) of Swords'; that'll be important later.
(5)?-chan can be used in many different ways in the Japanese language, but in this case, it's the little sister-figure form (basically 'Little Yaiba').
(6): She doesn't realize Hakkai changed his name—I'd imagine no one from his past does.
(7): Hakkai was once a teacher, in case you didn't know or forgot or whatever.
(8): You know—that look he got towards the end of his nightmare where Kanan was falling appart in the beginning of volume four.
(9): She doesn't realize Hakkai was the demon/youkai, since she wasn't there or anything like that.
(10)?-kun could be used many ways as well, but in this case, its to show affection (in an I've-known-you-forever kinda way).