Crossed Paths

By Sakata Ri Houjun

Warning: Lemon

~**************~

The day was slowly fading into night.  The streets of the town of Guzen were being deserted as the locals made their way to their homes.  All save for one lone figure that was still wandering the streets, his fiery hair matching the colors of the setting sun.

He was not going home because his home was not found in this small town.  No, this youth's home was located far away to the south in a range of holy mountains, protected by an unlikely crew.  And he missed his home and those whom he had come to think of as his brothers even though he had only lived there but a year.  He wanted to go back and be with them again, to see his friends, but he had a mission in life now and he wasn't about to quit just because he was feeling a little homesick.

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants, the young man shook his head remorsefully, utterly aware of the need to find a place to sleep before it got too dark.  Perhaps he'd even get himself a bottle of sake to warm him up, but he hated drinking alone, missing the rowdy company of his friends.  But then again, he never felt completely happy in their company either, as though he were missing something in his life.

Then suddenly he jerked his head up.  Funny, but he could have sworn that he had heard a scream just now.  Thinking it was just his imagination, he swore to himself and kept shuffling down the road towards an inn he knew was just ahead.  But then, it came again, louder this time, closer.  There was no mistaking it; he had heard a scream. 

He looked up just as a small child came rushing towards him, her turquoise braids flailing behind her and her blue eyes wide with terror.  "Iya!" she shouted as loudly as a panic constricted voice would allow.  She scrambled wildly through the streets, desperately trying to escape whomever it was that was chasing her.  "Stay away!"

She did not stop until she had crashed into the young man who had watched all this with concern.  She then landed on the ground, hard.  From behind her approached several vilely grinning men.  They continued to draw dangerously near, undaunted as the girl gained her footing and proceeded to hide behind the youth.

The young man could feel her tiny hands gripping his pant leg and trembling with fear.  He sighed as he rolled his eyes, knowing he had no choice but to butt in and help this child.  His full attention was then turned towards the pedophiles that seemed not to take heed of his presence as they slowed their pace and chuckled evilly.

He crossed his arms and cleared his throat.  "Oi.  Would one of you yarous mind telling me what the fuck you think you're doing?"

The men blinked as if finally noticing him for the first time.  "That girl is our property," one burly looking brute spoke up, the others nodding in affirmation.  "We're simply taking what's ours."

The youth shook his head and sighed.  "Is that so?"

"What business is it of yours anyways, kid?" another brute joined in.  "It's no concern of yours."

"But that's where you're wrong, assholes."  He reached behind him and withdrew his sword, a parting gift of his friends back home.  "I can't simply hand over a helpless child, even if she is a girl, to a bunch of shit-sucking pedophiles like you."

At his challenge, the four thugs immediately removed their own weapons and assumed clumsy, but threatening poses.  The youth couldn't help himself and let down his guard to laugh.  He just found the whole scenario too damn funny.  The pedophiles glanced at each other in confusion before advancing.

The young man took his fighting stance then.  The slavers were big, but slow.  His first attack caught the closest one off guard and, with a quick kick, he had laid the brute on the ground.  Not losing his momentum, he propelled himself forward to tackle the next slaver.  Pinning the man down with his weight, he quickly knocked out the man by bringing down his sword hilt against his temple.

He then pushed himself to his feet and glared at the remaining two thugs, bearing his fangs menacingly.  They took a step back in fear, but held their ground nonetheless.  The youth had to give them points for guts, but not for brains.  Within moments, all four were unconscious on the ground.

The young man spat to the side in disgust before resheathing his sword and turning to face the child.  She was looking up at him with those innocent blue eyes, wide with not fear but amazement.  He knelt before her.

"Are you okay, girl?"

She managed a shaky nod.  "Hai.  Domo arigatou."

"Oh that?" he grinned.  "It was nothing.  Where do you live?  I mean, ain't your mother worried that you're out this late?"

"Iie."  She grinned at him then, almost idiotically.

Frowning, the youth decided to try a different tactic.  "What's your name?"

But before she could answer, there came a frantic shout from behind the redhead.  "Nyan Nyan!  Where are you, no da?"

The young man stood and turned around, only to find himself facing a strange sight that caught him completely off guard.  A young and slender man with narrow, slanted eyes and short blue hair came bounding around the corner.  He was dressed in the vestibules of a monk, a shakujo jangling in his hand as he approached the pair.   His gaze was drawn first to the little girl that had just been saved and then landed on the redhead.  And somehow, the youth could sense anger emanating from the stranger, even as his golden eyes appraised the striking picture he presented.

"Dare da?" the newcomer asked as he skidded to a halt in front of the youth.

"I should be asking you the same damn thing," he retorted as he stepped protectively in front of the girl, certain that this man was also after her.

The cerulean-haired man held out his staff in a threatening manner as he took a step closer to the youth.  "I demand that you leave this child be.  She does not concern you in the least, no da."

"And I suggest that you had better back away from me with that fucking stick before you join your buddies there on the ground."  The youth's hand slowly slid behind him for the handle of his sword, convinced now that this was yet another slaver coming to annoy him.

But before he could even touch his weapon, there came a blinding flash of light and the young man found himself on his back with the breath knocked out of him.  A slight jangle of copper rings followed this and the cerulean-haired stranger stood menacingly over him, his features becoming obscured in the fading light of day.

"Those men are not my buddies, and you made a serious mistake by assuming that I'm associated with them, no da.  The child is my responsibility and you had no right in accusing me of harming her, na no da."

The youth blinked a few times in shock before replying.  "Yeah right.  What the fuck was that light?"

"Magic, no da."

The youth shook his head in an attempt to regain his bearings.  "You said the girl's yours, huh?  Can you prove that you're not some pedophile slaver like those assholes I downed earlier?"

The stranger sighed before looking up at the girl who had watched the whole scene occur with curiosity.  "Nyan Nyan, come here, no da."

"Hai, Houjun-kun."  She immediately flounced over to the man's side with a giggle.

The youth shook his head again, this time in bewilderment.  "Hn.  I guess then she's yours all right.  Demo, you should keep better track of your daughter."

The cerulean-haired man jerked at this comment and then chuckled.  "She's not my daughter, no da.  Nyan Nyan is my charge and a very rambunctious one at that, na no da."

"Still," the youth continued as he sat up and ran his fingers through his fiery red hair.  "You should have been watching her.  I had to save her from those damn slavers over there."

It was then that the cerulean-haired man took notice of the four unconscious brutes that the youth had attacked earlier.  "You took them all out, no da?"

"Yep."

"Then I suppose I should thank you, no da."  He looked back down at the youth and smiled as he extended his hand to help him to his feet.  "I'm Houjun, no da."

"You can call me Genrou."

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Houjun found himself unable to tear his eye away from Genrou's enticing golden orbs ever since their gazes first collided.  Before him was the most imposing, yet enticing, man he had ever met and he could feel some sort of connection between them that he had yet to discern with his magic.  For some reason, he felt drawn to the fiery youth who had managed to not only take out four oversized thugs, but down several cups of alcohol as well.

Genrou had decided to invite them to stay at the inn where he was planning on spending the night.  At the mention of having no money, the youth had offered to pay, saying that Nyan Nyan needed somewhere safe to sleep tonight and also that it could be his apology for the misunderstanding earlier.  However, Houjun felt that it was he who must owe the youth something for fearlessly saving his charge without any regard to his safety.

Now the little girl was asleep in one of the rooms that Genrou had arranged for them to occupy tonight.  Houjun had opted to stay in the tavern and get something to eat, the youth insisting that he eat a good warm meal.  Now the two men sat together at one of the tables in the tavern, sharing a meal but not the sake that the young man had ordered. He had long since discarded the mask now that Nyan Nyan wasn't in the room.

He remembered the reaction he got because of the false paper face he wore to placate the young child who was scared of his scar.  He had been afraid that the youth would also be disgusted with his face, but surprisingly Genrou had blinked twice, blushed, and then shrugged his shoulders as he mumbled something about a friend he had who also had a scar on his face.

Houjun lowered his head bashfully as he thought about how the young man's fiery temper and quick mind attracted him more than anyone or anything else had for a very long time.  He then grimaced ruefully.  He had been taught to endure all difficulties with patience and forgiveness, but just a few hours ago he had been forgiven after harming this man who he could now perhaps call friend.

"Oi.  You're not eating."

Houjun looked up, a pink stain coloring his cheeks.  "Gomen nasai, no da.  I was only just wondering where a young man like you managed to get this much money, na no da," he lied, hoping that the young man wouldn't be able to discern his true thoughts.

"Oi.  I ain't that young.  I just turned seventeen."  Genrou frowned as he poured another cup for himself.

Houjun chuckled.  "That is young, no da."

"Well, you don't look any older than me.  Mind telling me what your age is?"

"Twenty-four, na no da."

"Shit.  Well, um, it shouldn't really matter where I got the money.  I have it and you're getting a free room and board because of it."

Houjun averted his gaze, finding himself hard pressed in forming the right words to express his gratitude, trying to fill in the silence that stretched between them.  But before he could speak, Genrou did.

The youth, who had focused an unwavering golden stare on the cerulean-haired man before him, found the havoc Houjun inspired within his body unfamiliar.  "Do I seem like a criminal to you so something?  Am I so fucking horrible that you can't stand to look at me?"

"You're beautiful, no da!"  The words flew from Houjun's lips before he even realized that he even thought them.  He immediately stiffened.  "I-I mean…"

"Well…" Genrou trailed off as he blushed deeply, not knowing if the heat in his stomach came from the booze.  "I, uh, I guess after living with bandits for almost a year, I suppose it comes with the territory…"

"You're a bandit, no da?"

"Where'd you think I got the money from?  I mean, what about you?  What kind of occupation are you in since you're broke and wandering around with a child?"

"I'm a monk, no da."

"Monk?  That'll explain why you don't have any money on you."

"Well, monks do take vows of poverty as well as chastity, na no da."

That last comment caught Genrou's attention.  "Chastity?  Why would anyone want to take vows of chastity?"

Blush burning and gaze downcast, Houjun choked back a nervous giggle in an attempt at a delicate explanation.  "Such vows are spoken by the few who freely give themselves over to a temple's service, no da."

"And have you?" Genrou asked as he reached over, a gentle forefinger hooking under the older man's chin.

But the monk didn't answer, only blushed deeper as a strange shiver rushed through his spine at the question.  Then more of the younger man's words poured over him like warm honey.

"Do all monks have eyes that can see forever?"

Houjun suddenly became utterly aware of Genrou, as if they were the only two in the room.  He remembered how his two dearest friends had also been fascinated with his eyes.  Old eyes, they had called them.  They said that even as a small child that his gaze held so much wisdom deep within.  But never once did he feel overly gifted.  But clearly his eyes had captivated Genrou as he had been by the younger man's.

"I…I think I should..."

"Hai?"

"I think I should go and check on Nyan Nyan now, no da."

Genrou pulled his hand away and smiled as though he knew something the monk didn't.  "Of course."

"Where's our…my room, na no da?"

The bandit stood and tossed a few coins on their table before leading Houjun up a flight of stairs, stopping at the second floor landing.  He led the older man down a long hallway, passing doors to either side of them.  Just as they reached a narrow stairway, Genrou stopped at the last door to their left.

"Uh, this is my room, in case you or Nyan Nyan might need me for anything," he said as he reached over and squeezed the monk's hand.

Houjun stared at the paneled door and froze in place.  He then diverted his eye towards the younger man, his fiery hair shimmering in the faint candlelight.  They were so close he could hear Genrou breathing, heard his own heart beat.  The scant space between them seemed to come alive, drawing him.  He wanted…something he couldn't put a name to.

The bandit's pupils eclipsed the gold irises as they held the monk captive in silence.  The younger man then lowered his head, their breaths mingling.

Abruptly, Genrou jerked back, exhaling in a ragged rush.  Then he started up the flight of stairs, tugging roughly.  "C'mon.  I better get you up to Nyan Nyan before…"

"Before what, no da?"

"Before…" He stopped again and stared at the older man before shaking his head.  "Never mind."

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Genrou found sleep difficult as the night wore on.  His thoughts were centered on a certain blue-haired monk.  He had never felt this way about anyone before, as though he had known him his entire life.  And that warm chocolate gaze that could see through him, straight to his soul…

But hearing this man blurt out that he thought he was beautiful was the clencher for the hapless bandit.  That was why he had to probe about Houjun's vows, to find out if there could be a chance for a relationship between them.  Of course, not that would ever work out between them anyway.  Even if the older man wasn't repulsed by the idea of being with another man, he had that little girl with him.  Plus he himself had a mission of his own and couldn't put it off because of personal pleasure.

A knock at the door scattered his thoughts and he rose to answer it.  He was pleasantly surprised to find said monk waiting outside with a small smile.  "Houjun?"

"Gomen nasai, no da."

Genrou was immediately worried and his brow furrowed.  "Is Nyan Nyan okay?"

"Oh, she's fine.  Sound asleep, na no da."

"Then why…?"

"Something's bothering me, no da."

"Well, come in then, baka."  He stepped aside and let Houjun enter his room.  The monk took a seat on his otherwise untouched bed and folded his hands in his lap.  Genrou closed the door and let out his breath.  "You look like you got some heavy shit on your mind."

Houjun nodded.  "Hai.  There's a question I've been meaning to ask you, no da."

"Shoot."

"If you are a bandit, then why are you traveling alone, no da?"

"I guess because you could say that I'm on a quest of sorts."

"A quest, no da?"

Genrou nodded as he sat beside the monk.  "Hai.  You see, I come from a mountain stronghold and when our current leader dies, I'm the next in line to lead the bandits.  But I may be assuming the position sooner than I think because our current leader is sick.  I really admire the guy.  I mean, you should see him fight.  He's a man among men, as it were."

"If he's better than you, then I would be very impressed, no da.  I suppose then that you're looking for a cure for his disease, na no da?"

"Hai.  Everyone seemed to accept that he's gone, but he ain't.  He's still alive and young and strong, and I'm not going to give up."  Genrou clenched his fists so hard that they trembled.

Houjun reached over and covered his hands.  "That's very noble, no da.  It's no wonder that you're next in line for the position of leader, even as young as you are, no da."

"What about you?"  The younger man looked up to meet Houjun's gaze.  "Why are you wandering around if you're a monk?  And with that child no less?"

The older man averted his eyes for a moment before taking in a deep breath.  "I lost everything and everyone I had ever known to a flood six years ago, no da.  I was taken in by some passing monks and eventually I was charged with helping this child find her home, na no da.  I was told that I couldn't meet my destiny until then, no da."

"Is that where you got your scar…during that flood?"  Genrou reached up and traced the perimeter of healed flesh with his index finger, but his eyes never left Houjun's.

"H-hai.  I lost it in that flood as well, no da."  The older man's hands fluttered nervously back to his lap as an alien sensation raged through his body.

"But where did you learn that magic?  From the monks?"

"Iya.  It's a natural talent, no da.  I've been developing it during my travels, na no da."

Genrou's attention immediately fell to the floor as his hand dropped away from Houjun's face.

"Nani?"

"I was just wondering…  Have you really given vows of poverty and chastity?"

Houjun gasped, completely knocked off-kilter by the question once again.  The feel of this enticing young man so near, his warmth reaching out to enfold him, threatened to overwhelm him with forbidden sensation.  To forestall his answer, he stared at his hands, which he had clasped in his lap.

"Well, I did spend three years living and training at the monastery, no da.  I didn't quite take the requisite steps to formally join their number, na no da."

A golden gaze narrowed on the short azure hair of the older man's bowed head.  Though it was an honest response, it wasn't the complete answer.  "Is becoming a monk what you wish to do with you life?" Genrou probed further while threading a hand through the silky blue of his hair.  "Do you want to spend the rest of your days in a monastery?"

These questions were even harder to answer than his first.  Refusing to yield to a gentle tugging meant to tilt his face upward, Houjun hesitated.  "I left the monastery of my own free will to find my destiny, no da.  I'm only a novice.  My vows haven't been formalized, na no da.  And for the past three years I've been distracted in my quest to help Nyan Nyan."

Sparks glittered in Genrou's eyes as he found this revelation oddly pleasing. 

"I know that I don't have anywhere else to go, ever since my home was destroyed by that flood, no da.  However, with my tainted past, I don't think I truly belong anywhere anymore."

"Maybe it's just me, Houjun," Genrou began with tentativeness foreign to him.  "But you seem like a welcome part of my life."

Wonderment glowed in Houjun's wide eye while a shy smile bloomed.  Taught that material goods were to be banished along with the sinful pride they caused, Houjun had never been given such a gift since the flood.  Now he felt as if this beautiful man had given him a star from the very heavens.

"Arigatou, no da."

With soft words, Genrou had gently unwrapped and opened his secret vision of a tempting future.  It was a wishful fantasy that he hadn't acknowledged even privately for fear that a deed so bold might rip his fragile dream.

The bandit tilted his head in self-mockery.  In truth he desired the beguiling man, but not merely for the physical aspect he knew could be theirs.  He longed as much for Houjun to be his companion in sharing both life's joys and inevitable sorrows.

Genrou abruptly realized by Houjun's faint frown that the older man was concerned by his lengthening silence.  With a fanged smile, he calmed his friend's distress.

Houjun nibbled on his lower lip.  With that golden gaze focused steadily upon him and its source so near, increased awareness played havoc with rational thought.  The instinct to flee was strong, but stronger still was the wish to be closer.  It was stupid really to test his willpower by close proximity to that beautiful face framed in a wealth of fiery locks and eyes melted to liquid gold.

Houjun stopped breathing beneath the intensity of those eyes.  Not even to save his soul from perdition could he have broken the visual bond with the source of thrilling currents jolting from Genrou's vibrant body to his own.

Feeling as if he were caught in the daze between sleep and full wakefulness, drawn by powers as strong as a god's, Genrou leaned closer to Houjun…  In the last instant turned his mouth from the older man's to brush a far less dangerous whisper of a kiss across his scarred cheek.

Despite those questions and his answers, somewhere in his depths, Houjun suspected that this incredible man who'd easily claimed his heart would not take from him the one possession he knew he'd been raised to regard as most precious, chastity.  But if this were to be his only chance for love and pleasure shared, he would seize the prize no matter the cost.

Willfully closing his mind to all rational warnings, Houjun mentally lashed his courage into supporting body actions.  Nearly as much to his surprise as Genrou's, Houjun's hands slid up over a tunic covering the powerful contours of his chest, explored the dip at the base of his sun-bronzed throat, and brushed across a cheek to twine into flaming strands.

Genrou felt Houjun tremble, heard the tiny catch in his breath, and his blood caught fire, racing through his veins with the speed of a windswept flame.  His bright head turned the whisper of distance to bury his mouth against the satin curve of skin between the monk's throat and shoulder.

Houjun instinctively arched his throat into the heat of Genrou's kiss.  Then, sensing alluring pleasures just beyond reach, he nestled closer until powerful arms wrapped him within a fierce embrace.

A soft moan would have escaped him then but for Genrou's hungry mouth brushing repeatedly across his, enticing his lips to part.  When they opened to the heat of joining, the kiss immediately deepened, whirling Houjun into a chasm of fiery delights.

Soft lips pressing curious little kisses against Genrou's throat curled into a delighted smile with the discovery of a rapidly beating pulse.  Tongue venturing out, Houjun tasted the flavor of skin vibrating with a groan rumbling from the bandit's depths as he moved his mouth slowly down to nuzzle the catches holding the neck of the younger man's tunic closed.

Genrou twisted the fingers of one hand in the tangle of cerulean falling past the nape of Houjun's neck.  Gently, insistently he tugged the older man's head back until he could recapture his teasing mouth and teach him all the devastating pleasures a kiss could contain.

Time seemed to melt into an unpredictable sea of pleasure and fiery sensation until the moment when Genrou pulled completely free of Houjun's arms.  A small whimper escaped from his throat but became a sigh of admiration as the bandit stripped off his tunic in a single smooth motion so rapid that Houjun's first sight of his bare masculine chest was a brief glimpse of rippling muscles.  Only after Genrou turned full attention to ridding the monk of his clothing with even greater haste was Houjun able to focus a curious, unblinking eye on the stunning male beauty of his form.

Genrou immediately lowered himself to lie at Houjun's side and pull him into the hungry cradle of his arms.  Smoothing his hands over the strong muscles of the younger man's back, Houjun clung to him.  Genrou savored the complete yielding of the older man's deliciously slender body to the contours of his own.  Breath caught in Houjun's throat only to sigh out in little gasps as the younger man's mouth trailed fires of tender torment over the gentle valleys of his chest.

Driven by this shocking delight into a fiery sea of need, Houjun writhed with innocent abandon against Genrou, wanting to be nearer, wanting something more.  The tiny, inarticulate sounds welling up from the older man's core were more than he could resist.  Genrou turned him full into his embrace, hands sliding down his back, caressing and cupping his ass to mold his appealing form ever more tightly against his need.

Lost in a dark vortex of wicked delights, Houjun pressed even closer, twisting with enticing motions, pushing Genrou to the edge of his control.  The bandit began to rock against Houjun in a stimulating rhythm born with the dawn of time but when the passionate monk instinctively matched the motion, he abruptly pulled free to dispense with the last piece of clothing, the final physical barrier.

Desperate to lure him back, Houjun reached over to wrap his fingers around the bandit's steely length.  Genrou arched into that tentative touch, reveling in the trembling of his fingertips against his pulsing member, as he coated his own fingers in his saliva.

With gentleness, Genrou urged Houjun to lie back.  Then, sliding one leg between his slender thighs, he shifted and inserted his moist digit to prepare his lover for what was to come next.  Resting on his forearms to spare him his full weight, Genrou gazed down into a gaze dark with wanting, watching for the first hint of discomfort as he positioned himself and pressed intimately nearer.

Aware only of the gentle abrasion of the bandit's skin against his, Houjun moaned with erotic delight.  The sudden stab of pain was quickly lost amid a multitude of stinging pleasures.

With hard, sharp movements and a rhythm that grew wilder and wilder, Genrou rocked them both deeper into the delicious torment and anguished hungers at the peak of the fiercest flames.  Incredible pleasures seared every nerve until the blaze impossibly sweet exploded in unfathomable ecstasy.

"Aishiteru…" Amid glittering sparks of satisfaction, Genrou's words were barely intelligible growl, but Houjun heard them.

When Genrou gazed down into that beautiful scarred visage, he was distressed to discover tears.  "You're crying."  He feared that he had caused the older man even greater pain.

But Houjun simply shook his head as he held the bandit to him, smiling contentedly.  "Arigatou, Genrou."

The bandit tilted his head up and stole one more kiss before snuggling into that embrace.  He fell asleep with a comfort and peace overwhelming his soul, one that he'd never felt in all his life.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

The redhead awoke only to discover that Houjun had left him alone sometime during the night.  He knew that if he checked the room he had given the monk and his child companion that he'd find it unoccupied as well.  But the feeling from last night remained despite the monk's absence.  For him, what he and Houjun had shared was more than a bonding of their flesh, but of their souls as well.

He was glad for those stolen moments of passion with the older man because there was really no way for them to have stayed together at this point in their lives, Houjun helping his young charge and he finding a cure for his ailing leader.  But at least the monk could have said goodbye.

It was then that he took notice of a small pouch on the end table near the bed.  Upon opening it, he found several slips of paper inscribed with runes he could not decipher.  There was also a note:

"I'm sorry for leaving you in this manner, but I had to return to my quest, as you must renew your search as well.  I know our paths crossed yesterday for a purpose or else I don't think I would have fallen so hard for you despite knowing you for as short a time as I did.  I pray that fate will allow us to meet again and that our journey might be made together.

"Last night, you had given me so much more than you can imagine and I'll always treasure the memories I have of you.  I hope you will look back as well with fondness despite the gravity of our initial encounter.

"I can't help you, I'm afraid, in curing your leader despite my magic, but maybe these will come in handy during your travels.  They are talismans that conjure an illusion of whatever you wish.  All you have to do is write what you want to appear.

"I wish you well.  May Suzaku bless you and protect you always.  Aishiteru."

Genrou smiled as he sighed.  He already had Suzaku's blessing and protection as the seishi Tasuki, but he would trade it all if but to be with Houjun forever.  But who knew what the future would bring or where his path might lead.

"May Suzkau bless and protect you too, Houjun…koi…"