Goku thrashed awake, a choked cry coming from his throat. A dark figure moved across the room to his bed, and a gentle hand smoothed his sleep-tousled hair.
"Bad dream, Goku?" that well-loved and familiar voice asked. Goku grabbed at the fingers as they retreated and placed them back on his head.
"I was back in that place again, and you didn't come and get me! It was awful." The slender fingers twined through his hair, tipping his head back to look at the man standing by his bedside.
"I'll always come for you, Goku, you know that," the other soothed. "Here, move over," he added, shifting to sit on the edge of the narrow bed. He opened his arms, and Goku gratefully crawled into them, wrapping his arms around the slender waist and resting his head against the older man's narrow shoulder. "And I'll always be here for you, you know that too, right?"
Goku made a noise of agreement, breathing deep of the mingled scents of cigarette smoke, rare incense, and other, less savoury things, and felt the tension of the nightmare leave him. "I know, Doctor Ni, I know."
Ni Jianyi looked down at the crown of messy brown hair and smiled. It had been so disappointingly easy, he mused. Separate Goku from the others, a needle to the back of the neck full of the most powerful sedative he could concoct, then whisking the youth away for a quick mind scrub. He hadn't gone through the full process with Goku, just... tweaked him a little. Now, the youth believed that Ni had rescued him from his mountain prison, that Ni had cared for him, raised him for the past few years, that Houtou Castle was his home. Ni let none of his thoughts reflect in his voice as he spoke. "Good," he soothed, stroking the hair again and allowing his fingers to drift to the young man's shoulder. "It was just a dream, after all. You should try and go back to sleep." The arms around his waist tightened.
"No." Goku's voice was muffled against Ni's white clad shoulder. "I can't." The hand on his shoulder began to stroke gently, describing small circles on the youth's back.
"Yes, you can," Ni insisted softly. "You can sleep through anything." A muted laugh was his answer. "C'mon, lie down." Goku tensed again.
"Stay with me," he pleaded, lifting his had from Ni's shoulder and pinning Ni's dark eyes with his own golden ones. "Please?" Ni did not break his mask of concerned parent.
"Alright," he replied. "Shift over a little more." Goku obliged, and Ni lay down beside him, the narrow bed forcing him to cuddle in close. The youth hadn't removed his arms from around the doctor's waist, and Goku tucked his head back into the curve of Ni's throat, making a happy noise. The hot breath against Ni's neck swiftly slipped into the deeper rhythms of sleep, and only then did Ni relax and let his lips stretch into his usual sardonic smile.
0o0o0o0o0
"But it's broken!" a voice wailed, coming closer, and Ni looked up from his computer, frowning.
"And we can get it fixed, honest, Lirin! Ni'll help, he can fix anything!" He rose and stepped out his door to look along the corridor. Goku was trotting towards him, towing Lirin by the hand. He had a twist of silver-something twined around his free hand, and when he saw Ni he sped up, waving the hand above his head. "Hey, Doc, can you help? Please?" Bemused, Ni found the small object pressed into his hands and he lifted it to eye-height to study it. A pretty silver necklace, a stone arrowhead dangling from it. The clasp was wrecked, though.
"And how did this happen, hmm? It looks like a piece of Miss Yaone's jewellery." Both Goku and Lirin looked at the floor and were silent, identical blushes staining their cheeks. "So I'm guessing you didn't ask permission before you went through her things." The blushes got worse. He chuckled internally, and sighed externally. "This is the last time I help keep you two out of trouble. Come inside." Dutifully they followed him, and Ni distracted them both with a few passes of a pair of pliers and a touch of solder. "There, good as new," he said, handing the repaired necklace to Lirin. "Go put that back. Goku, I'd like to have a word with you." Lirin darted to the doorway and vanished. Goku kept his eyes on the floor.
"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Ni asked, lighting a cigarette, keeping his tone light. Goku twitched. "Well?" Words fell from the youth in a torrent.
"Lirin and me were playing, and she asked if she was as pretty as Yaone, and she didn't believe me when I said so, so I got her to put on some of Yaone's jewellery to show her, but it all got tangled, and we couldn't get that one off, and I pulled, and it broke, and I'm sorry!" The last was said in a wail. Ni blinked a few times, sorting through what the youth had said.
"Lirin asked you if you thought she was pretty?" Goku looked up, confused. Then he nodded. Oh dear, Ni thought. That was unexpected. Lirin had taken to the 'new and improved' Goku like a duck to water, ecstatic that there was someone else in the castle her own age to play with – and get into trouble with. She had to be reminded on a regular basis not to mention the Sanzo party or Goku's true past, though. This was one wrinkle he hadn't foreseen when he started this dangerous game; Lirin's interest in Goku being more than friendly. Sometimes he underestimated the age of the mind behind those huge green eyes and long lashes. As his mind raced through the possibilities and iterations of this interaction, he puffed at his smoke and pinned Goku with his dark eyes.
"You know it's wrong to take a friend's things without their permission."
"But we didn't take them! We were just borrowing them for a bit." Goku's hands twisted in the hem of his shirt. "I'm really sorry the necklace got broke, I really am! I don't know what we would've done if you didn't fix it." There was a wistful look in his large golden eyes. "Lirin just gets so sad sometimes, because she knows-" Goku clamped his mouth shut and looked away.
"Knows what?" Ni demanded sharply, perhaps a little too sharply by the expression on Goku's face. He gentled his tone. "You can tell me, Goku." The youth twisted his hem a little more and spoke in a low voice to the floor again.
"She knows her mother doesn't love her." He looked up, pleading. Ni let none of his calculation show on his face.
"Gyokumen Koshu..." Ni chose his words carefully. "Lady Gyokumen has the time and the room in her heart for only one person at the moment." Goku nodded.
"Lord Gyumaoh," the golden-eyed youth said knowledgeably. Then he frowned. "So when he's revived, she'll have time to love Lirin like she should?" Ni swallowed a shout of triumph.
"I believe so, yes."
0o0o0o0o0
Again Ni was interrupted by shouting. How the hell am I supposed to get any work don? he thought. Nihad just turned in his chair when his door was hurled open, and Goku was thrust through it. Kougaiji had one of Goku's ears pinched between his thumb and forefinger, and he had a thunderous expression on his face. The demon Prince's voice hissed out between his clenched teeth. "Keep your pet away from my mother." A second later Kougaiji had let go and turned on his heel, slamming the door behind him. The silence lasted for only a moment before it was broken by a sniffle – from Goku. He's crying? Ni thought in surprise.
"Goku?" The youth raised his head, one ear bright red from Kougaiji's rough handling, and he had tears streaming from his gold eyes and a bruise on one cheek.
"I just wanted to help," he choked out. "Honest, I didn't mean any harm!" The tears fell faster. Ni found a somewhat clean handkerchief in one of his pockets and offered it to Goku. The younger man took it with a shaking hand and buried his face in it, muffling his sobs. Soothing and calming, Ni got the youth seated on the rumpled cot he kept in his personal lab and coaxed the story from him. Goku had apparently got it into his head to visit Kougaiji's imprisoned mother and see if he could 'help'. Kougaiji had arrived to find Goku measuring up the stone statue with his nyoi-bo in his hands and a determined expression on his face. He'd not listened to a word Goku had tried to say; instead, he'd punched Goku across the room then hauled him down to Ni Jianyi's office in a tight and humiliating grip. Ni smoothed his fingers across the bruise on Goku's cheek as the young man's tears slowed and finally stopped.
"Kougaiji's an ass," Ni said abruptly, surprising a giggle from Goku. "If he doesn't want your help, that's his loss, isn't it?" Goku threw his arms around Ni's waist and held tight, pressing his face into the lab-coated chest. Kougaiji had been against this plan from the start, and it had taken some heavy, not-so-veiled threats from Gyokumen Koshu to keep him toeing the line. Maybe it's time for the prince to have a refresher course in acceptable behaviour, Ni thought.
"You always know how to make me feel better," Goku said, his voice soft. Ni stroked the tumble of brown hair. "Why is Kou always such a jerk to me?" Ni petted him some more.
"Prince Kougaiji has a lot on his mind right now." The head against his chest nodded in agreement, and he felt gush of warm breath as Goku sighed gustily. Then the golden-eyed youth lifted his head.
"Thanks," he said, shyly. Ni raised an eyebrow.
"For what?" Goku shrugged one shoulder, lowering his gaze in an unconsciously coy manner.
"Everything, I guess. Finding me, taking me in. Looking after me." Ni's mouth watered, and he stamped down on his libido, hard. Everything would fall apart if he gave in to the desire he'd first felt when he'd set eyes on the beautiful young man. Boy, dammit, he's just a boy. And if he repeated that enough times to himself, it might work. No matter what his other kinks were, and they were many and varied, he'd never, ever used a child. Although Goku had the face and body of a young adult, the mind behind those golden eyes was much younger.
"You're welcome," Ni managed to reply, gruffly. Goku obviously noticed his tension and shifted, lifting his eyes again, curiosity and confusion warring on his face as Ni lowered his hands and looked away.
"What's wrong?" There was an edge of panic in Goku's voice. He blamed himself for Ni's withdrawal, which was true enough. Ni sorted through possible answers before selecting one.
"I suppose Kougaiji isn't the only one on edge these days." Goku's arms loosened.
"What is it?" he demanded. "What's going on? Why won't anyone tell me what's happening?" Ni allowed the silence to build between them, once more in control of himself and the situation.
"Goku... You know there are some people who don't want Gyokumen Koshu to have her lover back... Oh, I shouldn't be telling you this." Goku grabbed at his hand.
"I'm not a kid any more, you can tell me." Ni hid his smile.
"There's a man coming, Goku, coming to kill everyone in the castle to stop the resurrection." Goku's eyes went wide. "He's powerful, and he's got two friends with him who are also very strong. Kougaiji keeps trying to distract him, to send him away, and the prince keeps failing."
"Kougaiji's really strong," Goku breathed, one hand fluttering up to touch the light bruise on his cheek. "Just how powerful is this guy?"
"He's a Sanzo priest. They're high ranking monks, but this one carries a banishing gun and a scripture that can kill anything." Ni shook his head, making his expression sorrowful. "I think everyone is worried because they know he's coming, and we don't know how to stop him." Then Goku spoke the words Ni wanted to hear in a low voice.
"I'll stop him. I promise." Although he wanted to shout for joy, Ni forced himself to frown.
"Now, Goku, I don't want you getting hurt."
"It's OK," Goku said, "I want to do this." He looked down again with that shy, charming smile. "I want to help you." Ni allowed himself to stroke Goku's hair once more.
"If you're sure," was all Ni Jianyi said, his voice appropriately solemn, while his insides danced with glee.
0o0o0o0o0
Another day, another rocky desert, Hakkai sighed internally as the monotonous scenery rolled by. He slanted a glance to his left, then up to the mirror sitting atop the windshield. It was so quiet. Neither Sanzo nor Goyjo spoke much these days, and only when Hakkai spoke to them first, which was seldom. Ever since Goku left, nothing had been the same. Sanzo had snarled and spat, declaring that the monkey could go, and good riddance. Goyjo had, at first, been on Hakkai's side, wanting to look for Goku, but as the days went past with no sign of the youth, he'd become withdrawn and solemn, finally agreeing with Sanzo that they had to move on. Hakkai was the only one of them who refused to believe that Goku had left of his own volition, but since he knew that the only people with the power to kidnap Goku were Kougaiji and his band, he'd agreed to move on, towards India, and, hopefully, closer to Goku and whoever was holding him.
As Hakkai shifted gears and steered around an outcropping of rock, he considered Sanzo's point. Goku was incredibly powerful, and it would have been next to impossible to take him against his will. But why would he have just picked up and left? Hakkai had heard the argument Sanzo and Goku had the night before Goku'd vanished – it was rather brutal, he admitted to himself. But it was just one of a multitude of arguments Goku had suffered through, and he'd stayed after the others. So why would he leave now?
He resisted the urge to break the silence – he'd been doing that for days now, and it was still awkward and ugly. Instead, Hakkai comforted himself with running through the mental list he was keeping of things that he would say to Goyjo and Sanzo when they found Goku. He was yelping and spinning the wheel a few moments later as a huge boulder slammed to the ground where they'd been a heartbeat before. Jeep balanced on two wheels for a second, then flipped, throwing the trio out. Hakuryuu was hovering in the air, cheeping worriedly as they pulled themselves to their feet. Goyjo shaded his eyes and looked up.
"Oh, look, Sanzo, it's your little playmate-" Goyjo began, then stopped, stunned, his mouth hanging open. Hakkai whipped around to look too, and found his own lips parting in surprise. Lirin was standing on the boulder, fists on hips. Standing beside her was a familiar figure.
"Goku!" Hakkai gasped as his heart gave a leap. At his side, Sanzo gave a growl.
"Where the hell have you been, monkey?" he demanded in a snarl. Goku frowned as he stared down at them.
"I don't know how you know my name, but I'm here to stop you. You won't put another foot closer to my home, and you won't hurt any more of my friends." He turned to Lirin, and Hakkai heard him speak softly. "Stay up here, Lirin, I'll make sure they can't get you." Lirin shook her head vehemently in denial.
"No way. Cranky baldy and me are gonna rumble." She punched one fist into her palm. "I owe him a couple." Hakkai watched in shock as Goku smiled at her, and touched her shoulder gently.
"You and me, hey?" Goku smiled again, extended his hands, and his nyoi-bo flashed into existence. "Let's do it." With that, he launched himself from the boulder. Sanzo, Hakkai and Goyjo were forced to scatter as the staff slammed into the ground in their midst, cracking rocks and sending debris flying.
"Monkey, what the fuck-!" Goyjo exclaimed, grabbing his shakujo just in time to block a strike from Goku. "It's US!"
"Yeah," Goku grunted as he strained against the kappa, "I know who you are. And I'm gonna stop you right here." His foot lashed out, hooking Goyjo's heel and spilling the lanky red-head onto his back. Goku raised his staff. "And don't call me a monkey!" Hakkai was moving before he'd had to opportunity to think. He tackled Goku, slamming into the youth and bringing them both to the ground in a puff of dust and sand. His green eyes locked with Goku's golden ones, and he shivered to see absolutely no recognition in them.
"Goku, please, stop," he pleaded. "Don't you know us? We're your friends."
"Yeah, right!" Goku spat as he twisted and bucked Hakkai off. "You're heading west to kill my friends! Can't you come up with a better lie?" Hakkai and Goku squared off.
"You don't know what you're doing," Hakkai said desperately, "stop before its too late and someone gets hurt." Goku just shook his head and attacked. Using all of his speed, Hakkai managed to avoid his strikes, but received a hammering blow to his temple that sent him flying when he lost his footing for a split second on the uneven ground. He tried to focus, tried to blink away the stars that danced across his vision. He admitted it to himself – he was scared. No, terrified, that someone would die today. Hakkai struggled to his feet, grabbing a nearby rock to drag himself upright. Goyjo had placed himself between Goku and Hakkai, and was once again trying to talk to the boy. Goku was having none of it, but since the kappa and the monkey had sparred more than once, Goyjo was better able to read his moves and fend him off.
Sanzo had his hands full with Lirin. It was obvious that his standard tactic of feeding her wouldn't work today, Hakkai noted. The priest was getting fed up, so Sanzo left himself open for a second, hoping to lure the girl into a foolish attack. The move paid off as his knee slammed into her stomach and the butt of his gun cracked against the back of her skull. Lirin's eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"Lirin!" Goku cried. He disengaged from Goyjo with a clever feint then dove for the young woman, knocking Sanzo out of the way. He cradled her in his arms with a gentleness the other three had rarely seen. "Lirin, I'm so sorry, please be OK."
"She's just out cold," Sanzo said with a surprising amount of calm. "Goku, look at me." Goku raised his head, and the rage and menace in his face and eyes caused cold chills to race up and down Hakkai's spine. "You stupid ape, what the hell is going on?" Goku rose to his feet, still holding Lirin close.
"I wasn't ready for this. Next time, I'll fight you for real." His legs bent, and Goku jumped, landing on top of the boulder once more. He leaped for a second time, vanishing from sight. The next moment, there was the rustling of wings and a pair of flying dragons took to the sky, flying off towards the west.
"He even sounds like Kougaiji," Goyjo grumbled, massaging a bruise on his forearm. "What the hell is going on?"
"I don't know," Hakkai admitted. "But I do know it isn't good." Sanzo watched the dragons as they shrank to dark dots. His expression was unreadable as he spoke.
"We do know something. We know that Goku is now the enemy."
A/N: Well, that didn't go how I was expecting. This was supposed to be a one-shot - I was wrong. Damn you, Ni Jianyi, this always happens when you're involved! All I wanted to write was a nice little Goku/Ni perversion, and it turned into this... Stay tuned, another chapter will be forthcoming... Eventually. -YoukaiNemisis.