A Weird Experience

By hrsapphire

The sun rose high in the sky. I was already awake by dawn. By now it was the right time to hang up the laundered clothes. As I hung up the wet clothes, I could hear a car coming towards our village. I turned to see a green jeep with four people inside. The two men at the back were obviously fighting while the two in front were calm as the river, although the one on the right was obviously pissed off by the commotion behind him. I smiled at the sight. I went back to hanging up the clothes. "Keira! The guests are here!" I heard my father yelling from inside the house. "I'm coming! I just need to hang up one more!" I answered. As I hung up the last shirt on the wire, I heard a couple of 'baka sarus' and 'urusais'. I also heard a gun shot. To my fear, I ran towards my father only to see a blonde guy holding a gun towards the sky, a vein ready to pop. "If you really want to get to heaven that much, just tell me. I'd be obliged to bring you there personally," the man said pointing the gun towards the two men fighting. The red haired man and the kid stopped their bickering and separated from each other. "Yare, yare. It's rude to act like this in a respectable household," a dark-brown haired man said smiling at his comrades a sweat drop becoming known.

I blinked rapidly at the scene playing before me. These men were obviously travelers but they didn't get along too well. For example: the red haired man always gets into a bickering with the boy. The blonde man gets irritated with the two's bickering while the brown haired man doesn't seem to care if two of his comrades died because of the blonde man. I smiled and giggled. "Sanzo-sama, it is of great pleasure to serve you. We might not have much but we'd give you everything you'd desire," my father said bowing at them. I was baffled. The blonde man was Master Sanzo, the highest monk of the Buddhists.

Suddenly, I saw him staring at me. "Ch," I heard him. Hmm… first impression: jerk! I turned to go to the kitchen given that my father will yell at me if I didn't make something for 'the guests'. As I entered the kitchen, I saw Neko, the cat, sleeping on the dining table, while Akiko, my little sister, was petting him. I picked Neko up and set him on the floor. "Never on the table, Akiko," I said. Neko purred and walked over to me, his fur tickling my leg. "Stop it, Neko. I need to do something," I said again pushing him away lightly so as not to hurt him. I took four meat cuts and cooked them on the stove. "Keira, serve the tea first. Hurry up!" My father said peeping through the door. I took four cups and filled the kettle with the tea on the stove. "Akiko, keep an eye on the meat," I said to my six-year-old sister.

As I entered the dining room, I saw the red haired man winking at me. I just smiled. I'm used to this treatment. A lot of father's guests have been doing that to me, even worse, they ask me to drink with them and go to their room. Because of these, trouble finds it's way to me. I set the four cups in front of each person and pour tea in their cups. I set the kettle down in the middle of the table when I was sure everyone had tea. I bowed in respect when my father introduced me. "Let me introduce my daughter, Keira. She is my eldest," he said as if selling me to them. "Do you have a suitor?" the red haired man asked. "Gojyo, I don't think it's a good idea," the brown haired man said setting a hand on Gojyo's shoulder. "Why is it not, Hakkai?" the boy asked the man. Hakkai just sweat dropped. I bowed again and left the room.

I let out a breath. That was the sweetest thing that anyone's ever done for me. Not even my father had the courage to do that. "Keira-kun…" Akiko called to me. I looked towards her and saw smoke coming from the kitchen. I ran towards it and saw that the meat was burnt. I turned the stove off before pouring water over the burnt meat. I looked at my sister. She had her hands behind her back. "Are you alright?" I asked bending down to her level. She just nodded. "Are you sure?" I asked again, looking at every inch of her body for any trace of wounds or burns. To my dismay, her hands were burned. I sighed. "You tried to take the meat off, didn't you?" I asked looking at her eyes. Her sky-blue eyes were tearing and I couldn't help but pity the little thing. I held her hand and got ice from the icebox. "Hold this. I'll get the ointment," I said putting the small ice blocks in both of her hands.

I looked for the ointment in the medicine cabinet only to find bandages and some pills inside it. "Wait here. I'll go get otou-san," I commanded her, sitting her on a chair. I walked toward the room where my father was. I entered. He was still talking with Master Sanzo's group. I breathed in deeply then walked toward them. I smiled at them when I arrived at their table. "Akiko burned her hands. Where is the ointment?" I whispered to my father. "Otou-san… Keira-kun…" a faint voice called us. We turned to see little Akiko still holding the small blocks of ice in her hands. Droplets of water slipped from her small hands and her eyes still had tears in them. I bent down to her level. "Don't worry. We'll find the ointment," I assured her, pulling back a lock of curly hair. I gave her an assuring smile. "What happened?" I heard one of Sanzo's companions ask. He was the man called Hakkai. I turned to see him beside me. He looked at Akiko's hands. "What happened to you?" he asked her. She didn't answer. "I asked her to look after the meat I was cooking. She tried to take the meat off the stove when it was starting to get burnt," I answered for her. He looked at me. I blushed. I have never seen serene blue eyes before. He held Akiko's hands in his and produced a bright light inside it. Akiko blinked furiously at him… and so did I. When he released Akiko's hands, the burns were gone. Akiko smiled. "Thank you," she said then hugged him. We were all stunned. "Akiko…" I thought. She never warmed up to anybody this fast. Who were they?

I woke up to find that Akiko was not beside me. I stood from my bed and looked for her. I walked through the plains, knowing that Akiko came there every morning. She wasn't there. I went back inside. When I entered the house, I saw her with Hakkai. They were on the steps of the lodge. He was showing her his bright ball of something… energy maybe. He must've sensed me nearing them since he looked up and smiled at me. "Keira-kun! Look at what Hakkai-niisan can do!" Akiko said running towards me and pulling me to him. Hakkai-niisan? She thinks it's ok to call someone as brother. She has never been this close to anyone who came here before. Usually, she'd warm up to them when it was time for them to leave, but to him, it was just a matter of minutes. I was still baffled at how he could be so gentle and caring with children. I never thought a traveler could be. I let Akiko pull me towards him. He just sat there staring at Akiko, smiling at her enthusiasm though it wasn't even dawn. Akiko sat beside Hakkai while I sat beside her. "Hakkai-niisan, show Keira-kun your chi," She asked excitedly. I just looked at him. He held out his hand, palm up, and produced a small green ball of chi… as Akiko had said. Akiko poked the ball. It avoided the little girl's finger. She giggled every time the ball of energy bent away from her finger. She hasn't been this happy since Okaasan died. A giggle escaped my mouth when Akiko giggled. He looked at me then smiled.

Suddenly, he looked away towards the woods. I followed his gaze to see a band of demons. I held Akiko to me. "Get in the house," he said, standing and walking towards them. "Are you crazy? These are demons. You can't win over them," I said still standing on one of the steps of the lodge. "You forget. I've got powers," He said looking back at me. He smiled. Yes he did. I went inside with Akiko in tow. A few demons charged their way toward us. I just kept running. As I opened the door of the house, I saw a chain fly right through my side and defeated the demon that followed us. "I can't believe that you'd deprive us of the opportunity of having fun, Hakkai," Gojyo said drawing back the chain and resting the staff on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Gojyo. I didn't think you'd wake up this early, especially Goku," Hakkai said smiling at him and blasting small balls of energy towards the demons.

Gojyo, Master Sanzo and the boy, Goku, exited the house calmly as if not afraid of what might happen. "Stay in the house until we knock," Sanzo whispered to me. Who are they? What powers do they possess to be able to defeat these kinds of demons? And where did Gojyo's staff appear? "Almighty Staff!" Goku yelled as a bright light appeared and then he held a plain red staff. I was stunned. How do they do that? Were they really humans? Or are they fighting their own kind? I entered the house, letting Akiko go in first. I peeped through the window to see what was happening. With one gunshot, a ball of chi, a swing of the chain staff and the 'almighty staff', the demons were lessened. In no time, the demons were exterminated…or were they? I could sense one or two more. I exited the door and looked around. "Are you alright?" Gojyo asked, resting his staff on his shoulder.

I closed my eyes. Though my eyes were closed, I could see the place clearly but there was something else. Behind the four, I could see green glowing blobs of something. I opened my eyes but saw nothing. I closed them again. I imagined it burning and it did. I opened my eyes and saw the big blob of something burning. Goku and Gojyo jumped away, startled. Hakkai just looked at me. "Sanzo, did you see that?" Hakkai asked Sanzo. He just nodded. "Keira-kun!" I heard Akiko scream. I turned to see Akiko being held by a demon, his nails sharper than any knife, pointing up Akiko's throat. "NOOO!" I screamed as a gust of fire came out from behind me and towards the demon, burning him though not hurting Akiko in the process. Akiko ran towards me as I fell to the ground. She embraced me then cried on my shoulders. "Angel, I was so scared," she said through her tears. I held her close to me, tears stinging my eyes, knowing that Akiko was fine. What had happened to me? What did I do? What happened? How did I acquire such power? These questions flooded my head as I held my sister to me, crying as she did. I was happy she was safe. I don't know what I would do or what would happen to me if she were in danger.

End For Now…

A/N: I forgot the disclaimers. I don't own Saiyuki, although I would love to:) Keira and Akiko are my own characters. Please don't take them away from me. They're the only things that link me with Hakkai!!! Hehehe:)  Anyway, please review. I'd really love to know what you think. If I should continue it…